Young Hearts Carousel
by GimmeBanjo
Summary: Invicta AU: Kelly gets a new job and a new boyfriend, leaving Booth to adjust to his new life. Has he really gotten over the past? Has he come to terms with his own life? The torch has been passed to Brennan to try to help them out.
1. Chapter 1

Young Hearts Carousel

Invicta AU: Kelly gets a new job and a new boyfriend, leaving Booth to adjust to his new life. Has he really gotten over the past? Has he come to terms with his own life? The torch has been passed to Brennan to try to help them out.

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_**A/N: I don't really recall at any point in the series Booth talking about his mother. So for the purpose of my AU, she's alive and well, living alone in the house that Booth grew up in.**_

**_Invicta AU includes (in chronological order, I suppose): Building Booths, Jumping the Gun, Invicta and White Elephant. Check them out if you haven't already, Kelly's my own little creation. The rest belong to a higher power._  
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**_This story was inspired one night while walking my dog and I saw my neighbor (who looks strangely like a young David Boreanaz circa season 1 of Buffy) kick his car tire. So I got the idea from him, but the story didn't click until I was listening to one of my favorite songs, Shady Esperanto and the Young Hearts. Then I thought to myself: isn't life just one long carousel? Around and around we go… where we stop, nobody knows…_**

**_Really… that's all it took for this monster to take off. And trust me, it is a monster._**

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_Lilac eyes release me from the sting of the queen bee  
Help me to forget about the lions chasing me  
If a man among us has the notion that he's free  
I entreat you to the challenge, stand on up and let's see__You get old  
I never wanna get old_

_Smiling and sun baked, I get jealous of myself  
Like Shady Esperanto and the Young Hearts carousel  
Hardest part has always been to resurrect my soul  
Lightning in my youth and the newest way just got old  
It got old  
I never wanna get old_

_And you try, and you try  
And you try and you try  
And you try and you try again  
But you can't try enough  
_

_But you keep fighting  
You keep on fighting me  
You keep on fighting  
Don't you know you already won?_

_Somewhere in the city we were hanging on the lawn__  
Talking all the time about where the time had gone__  
It's not the way I thought it'd be__  
It's not what I was told__  
I got a young heart and I don't want to get old  
I never wanna get old_

_And you try, and you try  
And you try and you try  
And you try and you try again  
But you can't try enough_

_~Shady Esperanto and the Young Hearts, Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers  
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Spring  
*

Kelly Booth walked into Founding Fathers and saw her brother, Special Agent Seeley Booth, sitting at the bar with his co-workers. She walked up behind him, tapped him on the shoulder and when he turned around, she held out her arms and spun around. He smiled. She was looking very professional in a three piece dark gray pin stripe pant suit with a fuchsia button up shirt.

"Don't I look like a lawyer?" She asked with a sly smile.

"Did you get the job?" Booth looked at her face, desperately trying to read the smile

"Yup!" She jumped up and down in excitement. "You should see the law office! It's in Old Town Alexandria and it's this colonial townhouse that they've converted. Martin's office is the front room with this huge bay window that overlooks Duke Street…" She marveled "And I'm going to be working there!"

"I think it was the suit that got you the job." Angela winked from beside Booth.

"Yes, I agree." Kelly laughed "I had this amazing personal shopper help me out…"

"You've got to give me her number!" Angela laughed at their inside joke. In truth, it had been Angela who had taken Kelly shopping last week for power suits as Kelly went in to the interviewing process after graduating law school.

"I hardly think the suit had anything to do with it." Brennan piped up from the other side of Booth. "You are a very bright young woman."

"Well thank you, Dr. Brennan." Kelly beamed.

"So he's a defense attorney?" Booth asked nervously as Kelly slung her suit jacket over the back of the bar stool and climbed up next to Brennan.

"Oh yeah," Kelly said as she looked down the row at Brennan, Booth, Angela and Hodgins. "He's defending this boy in middle school who got kicked out for some ludicrous reason, but the boy was actually diagnosed with ADHD, so we're trying to get him back into the school system because he was unlawfully kicked out and his parents don't have enough money for private school as well as therapy."

"And a high-powered attorney." Hodgins scoffed and Angela jabbed her elbow into his ribs.

"So he does civil rights cases?" Booth asked hopefully.

"Not exclusively. He's got this one guy on death row…" Everyone at the bar looked at Booth, but Kelly continued. "He totally didn't do it. He was set up. It's this whole huge debacle. Yeah, he's a drug dealer, but since when do we murder drug dealers?" Kelly shrugged. "He was being followed by a guy who owed him money, a bad drug deal went down and the other guy was the one who actually shot the victim. They had a confession from the other guy, but he took it back, saying he was forced into it, so there's two guys in jail for the murder right now and our guy is scheduled to die next month." She shook her head. "The governor won't absolve our guy, which is ridiculous because there's so much he said/he said."

"It sounds like you have your work cut out for you." Brennan said as an awkward silence settled over the bar.

"Who else is on your case load?" Booth asked cautiously and Kelly looked at him.

"I don't think I should be talking about it…" She noticed the disapproving look on his face and she quickly continued. "There may or may not be a 9/11 terrorist, but the evidence against the guy is pretty weak. A handful of drug dealers, a pain doctor…" Booth cringed. "But Seeley," She said forcefully. "This is what I want to be doing."

"You want to be representing a terrorist?" He said through clenched teeth. As much as he tried, he couldn't accept Kelly's need to be a defense attorney.

"He's not a proven terrorist." She reminded. "And he's an American citizen! He has every right to a fair trial in front of a jury of his peers. What kind of standard would that set if we denied him his rights?"

Seeing that this was a flailing conversation, Angela decided to speak up.

"Well, I for one, am proud of you, Kelly." She smiled "Not many people have the courage to follow their dreams. I say we go out tonight and celebrate."

"I'd like that." Kelly nodded, casting a glance at Booth as he took a sip of his beer.

"We should make it a girls night!" Angela continued, hoping that would give Booth enough time to calm down before he and Kelly started up again. "Would you be up for one?" She asked Brennan.

"Yes, I think that would be fun." Brennan smiled at Kelly.

"Girls nights are always trouble." Hodgins groaned from beside Angela. "I don't know how girls do it…"

"Well when you get three temptresses like us out on the dance floor…" Angela teased. "Oh, we should invite Cam along."

"This is turning into a bad idea." Booth shook his head. "Don't corrupt my little sister." He pointed his finger at Angela.

"Corrupt? Whatever are you talking about?" She batted her eyelashes playfully.

"I admire your gallantry, big brother." Kelly reached across Brennan and patted his arm. "But I was gone a long, long time ago."

"Okay, just stop." Booth threw up his hands. "Have fun. Don't tell me about it in the morning."

The girls laughed as Angela pulled Brennan and Kelly off their bar stools.

"It's never too early to celebrate!" She sang as she led them out of the bar.

"Have fun." Booth whispered to Brennan as she turned around to leave.

"I'm certain it's a guarantee." She smiled as she followed Angela and Kelly out of the door, leaving Hodgins and Booth together at the bar.

*

Booth hesitated before he knocked on Brennan's door the next morning, wondering exactly how much fun the girls had last night. Brennan opened the door, still wearing her bathrobe, but she had clearly been up for a bit, freshly showered with a cup of coffee in her hand.

"What's wrong?" She asked concerned.

"Get dressed, we're headed to western Virginia." He smiled as he handed over the file that had been faxed to the FBI. "Two bodies found in a ravine early this morning by two kids on ATVs."

"Come in." Brennan stepped aside and added quickly. "Kelly's sleeping on the couch, so don't wake her."

"Why is she on your couch?" He eyed her suspiciously.

"It was late by the time we got back and I decided it would be better for her to just stay here than go to Rebecca's and wake the whole household." She shrugged. Since Kelly's shooting months ago, Booth's ex and mother of his child had taken it upon herself to become an almost foster mother to Kelly. She had offered up the basement of her house as a home. Booth had reluctantly agreed, feeling safer to have Kelly with Rebecca and Parker than living on her own in an apartment in a questionable part of town.

"How magnanimous of you." Booth smiled

"We were all a little bit drunk." She shrugged. "It felt like a better decision. I'll go get dressed then we'll head out."

She disappeared into the back of her apartment and Booth stood across the living room, looking at his sleeping sister. She was still dressed in her button up shirt and slacks, half covered by a blanket and she had a peaceful look on her face, half of her mouth curled up in a smile. Booth laughed to himself. Aside from the slightly smeared make-up, she looked exactly like she had when she was little.

"Do you want to write a note for her?" Brennan peaked her head out of her bedroom. Booth caught his breath as her hair dangled teasingly on her bare shoulder. He simply nodded. "There's paper there on the counter. Tell her where the spare key is so she can lock up before she leaves."

She disappeared again, leaving Booth standing there, surprised by the intimacy of the moment. They had been partners for years, but that one moment was like a breath of fresh air for his burning lungs.

Brennan emerged from her room just as Booth was finishing the note.

"Are you ready?" She asked, throwing a light jacket over her shoulders.

"Yeah, just," He looked at the note and signed his name. "Ready to catch the bad guys?" He softly and enthusiastically clapped his hands together. Brennan laughed as she followed him out the door.


	2. Chapter 2

Booth was sitting at his desk completing the reports on the two bodies found in a ravine in Hurley, Virginia. It had been a lovers quarrel, two men vying for the same woman. It had been the woman who had killed the men and she was now safely in police custody. He was neck deep in paperwork when there was a knock on his door. He looked up and smiled when he saw his sister standing there wearing a visitor's pass. She was dressed for work and he was a little confused as to why she was there.

"I got to play at the Library of Congress today doing research." She explained when she saw the question on his face. "I thought I'd stop by for a bit and say hi!"

"Well then hi." He motioned for her to take a seat and looked at the clock on his desk. "You have time for lunch?"

"Not really." She shook her head as she sat down "I've got to get back to work. I uh," She took a deep breath and plowed ahead. "I have a date tonight."

"A date?" Booth looked surprised, not understanding why Kelly would be telling him.

"Yeah, I met him at the bar the other night when I was out with the girls, he's a nice guy and all, a physical therapist, but um," She bit her lip.

"Spit it out." Booth taunted

"Are you free tonight?" She blurted out

"You need a chaperone?" He laughed, but stopped when she saw his face.

"No, not really. But I mean, my last boyfriend did shoot me- three times- and I'd really prefer not jumping in blindly right now." She shrugged "My track record isn't so hot."

"What do you want me to do?" Booth asked, almost helplessly.

"A double date?" She smiled weakly

"With who?" He wondered out loud

"Bones!" Kelly smiled. "I mean, she knows I have the date, so it's probably not going to shock her too terribly. And I've already asked Jeremy if it was alright if we did a double date thing with my brother and his partner… I'm pretty sure he thinks you're gay now that I think about it."

"Did you tell him that I'm an FBI agent and ex-Ranger?" Booth cocked his head to the side and tried not to smile.

"I like the guy, Seeley!" She laughed "I'm not trying to scare him away, but just testing him."

"Testing him?" Booth narrowed his eyes. "You women and your games."

"Ask Bones." She stood up and straightened her jacket. "Call me when you know. Dinner is at 8 at Firefly."

*

Booth and Brennan were in Angela's office looking over a recovered photograph when he decided to broach the topic of the possible double date.

"So did Kelly meet anyone when you went out for that girls night?" He asked slowly

"Hm?" She looked up distractedly "Oh, yeah, Hot Physical Therapist."

"Hot Physical Therapist?" Booth repeated

"That's what Angela was calling him all night." She shrugged and looked back down at the computer screen.

"What's your opinion on him?" He asked testing the waters.

"He was pleasant." She smiled up at him, knowing what he did and did not wanted to hear. "He laughed at her jokes, pulled out a chair for her, bought her drinks, and he is, as Angela says, hot."

"She has a date with him tonight." Booth groaned, not sure he was entirely on board with his sister dating so soon.

"Who has a date?" Angela walked into the room

"Kelly has a date with Hot Physical Therapist." Brennan explained.

"Ooh, I knew it." Angela practically squealed. "They make such a cute couple."

"She wants us to go with her." Booth looked at Brennan.

"Wise choice." Brennan nodded. "I suppose we'll be working till then, so I assume you know where we're going?"

"Yeah." Booth nodded. Kelly had known it would be that easy, but he had expected some reluctance from Bones.

"This is so exciting." Angela laughed. "Tell me how it goes. I wish I could be there."

"Bring someone," Booth suggested hopefully. "It'll be fun."

"Oh please, Booth." Angela rolled her eyes. "This is a family affair and really, who would want to mess that up?"

"For what it's worth, Booth," Brennan smiled innocently. "I'm looking forward to it."


	3. Chapter 3

_So I figured I'd try something… I'm writing a new story, but I'm kinda stuck, so if you're reading this and have a favorite/least favorite aspect of my stories, something specific you want to see or question you want answered, send me a PM or something to let me know… You could say stuff like "More scenes between Kelly and Brennan!" (If that's your comment, there's one coming up in this story) or "I hate it when Kelly acts like a two year old!" (also one of those coming up...) or "Who is this hot Jeremy fellow? Give me more of him!" or whatever it is you like/dislike or a probable story line or scene. Help me out of my rut! Thanks so much!_

_Also, if you're reading this... stick around... the first few chapters are set-up for the last few chapters, which I'm really proud of and really enjoyed writing.  
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"So, you're an FBI agent." Hot Physical Therapist, also known as Dr. Jeremy Whitman, took a sip of his beer and looked across the table at Booth.

"I specialize in Major Crimes, meaning murder." He said flatly. Kelly held back laughter, not knowing if he was trying to intimidate her date or just playing with him.

"Temperance is his partner." Kelly supplied.

"That's right, you're a Forensic Anthropologist." Jeremy nodded his head and shifted his gaze from Booth to Brennan. "I've never heard of that profession. I've heard of Forensics and I've heard of Anthropology…"

"I study bones." Brennan had learned a long time ago that with some people, it was just easier to stick to the basics, no matter how factually irrelevant the basics were.

"I really think it's fascinating what you do." Kelly nodded her head with a smile.

"So Jeremy," Booth spoke up. "What do you do for a living?"

"I'm a physical therapist. I uh, work mainly with sports injuries. Right now I'm busy rehabbing a lot of baseball players. Pitchers mainly who have blown out their shoulders and whatnot." He explained as Booth gave him the once over.

Booth didn't want to admit it, but Angela was right. Jeremy and Kelly did make a good match. Jeremy was shorter than he was, but he had a broad chest and a fit build. He cast a quick glance at Brennan and noted that she was smiling at Jeremy, probably admiring his light brown hair, green eyes and annoyingly boyish grin.

"Where did you go to school?" Booth asked. Kelly suddenly regretted invited him.

"I got my doctorate at VCU." He said calmly.

"Doctorate?" Booth sat back. "I suddenly feel inadequate."

"Two doctors and a lawyer." Kelly laughed.

"We sound like a premise for a TV show." Jeremy teased and Kelly laughed harder.

"What do you do in your spare time, Jeremy?" Brennan smiled as warmly as possible at the man across from her. She wasn't the best judge of human nature, but she could tell that Booth was making the poor boy nervous.

"I actually teach karate and coach little league baseball." He nodded as Booth looked at him in surprise "And I'm a competitive cyclist. I have a race this weekend and you're all welcomed to come." He looked at Kelly and smiled.

"I'd love to." She smiled back and looked at her brother and Brennan. "They'll probably be working because that's all they ever do."

"Murderers never sleep." Booth chimed in.

"Actually, they do, Booth." Brennan looked at him and he shot her an annoyed look back.

"I tried once to stay up for an extended period of time, but I got to 36 hours and I crashed." Kelly diverted while she tried not to laugh and Booth's expression of sheer irritation. "Stupid me waited until my last semester of law school to figure out all-nighters were not a good idea."

"How's the new job going?" Jeremy asked, surprising everyone at the table.

"It's going great, actually!" She smiled "It's tiring. I'm either on the phone, being yelled at or stuck with massive law indexes, but it's exciting."

"Set any bad guys free?" Booth asked sarcastically. Under the table, Brennan placed a hand on his knee, trying to send him a signal to back down. He glanced in her direction and sighed. "It's a joke."

"You should be glad to know that I haven't even walked into a court room yet." Kelly reassured him. She looked at Jeremy and explained, "FBI agents and criminal defense attorneys aren't really natural allies."

"Ah," Jeremy nodded. "I can see where that would make things complicated."

"But we're proud of Kelly." Brennan jumped in. "She's overcome a lot and deserves the chance to do what she wants to do."

Kelly smiled at Brennan, thankful that she was there to smooth things over. It also touched Kelly that she was taking such a maternal stance on Kelly's well-being.

"So are you two working on any interesting cases now?" Jeremy asked after a moment.

"Ooh," Kelly sat forward. "Tell him about the lovers triangle in the ravine case you just solved. But spare us the gruesome details."

Kelly sat back as Brennan took over the story telling with Booth interjecting his own commentary every once and a while. Dinner came and went without a major hitch. Congenial conversation seemed to flow easily enough and Kelly was really enjoying herself. While they were waiting for desert, Jeremy's phone started vibrating. He looked at it with annoyance then sighed.

"It's my boss, I have to take this." He apologized as he slid out of his chair and walked out the front door of the restaurant.

"Escape plan?" Booth looked at Kelly with a touch of pity.

"Escape plan?" Brennan looked confused "Oh you mean if it's a bad date. I don't think so." She shook her head and smiled at Kelly. "I think he likes you."

"You, the keen observer of human nature." Booth scoffed.

"Shut up, Seeley." Kelly looked at him with frustration. "You're supposed to be helping me, remember? Not making an ass of yourself."

Brennan started chuckling, and quickly sobered up when Booth shot her a warning look.

"If you really like this guy," Booth said slowly, "I think he's a good guy."

"Really?" Both Kelly and Brennan looked at him with surprise.

"Yeah," He shrugged. "If he comes back in those doors, I say he's a keeper."

The next five minutes were excruciatingly long for Kelly. Booth and Brennan were discussing an aspect of their newest case while Kelly kept waiting for Jeremy to walk through the door. Finally, the door swung open and Jeremy came through it with a smile on his face, directed at Kelly.

"Sorry about that." He apologized as he sat back down. "One of my patients fell and broke her hip. I need to visit her tomorrow in the hospital and talk to her doctors."

"Is she elderly?" Kelly asked with concern.

"Yeah, Mabel. She's a real sweet woman." He responded

Triumphantly, Kelly smiled at Booth and he just rolled his eyes.

*

Booth and Brennan were back in Booth's car, heading back to the Jeffersonian after dinner to finish up a little detective work on their case.

"If you think it's too soon for Kelly to be dating again, why did you agree to go along?" Brennan contemplated as she was looking out the window.

"What?" Booth turned his head quickly to look at her, then looked back at the road.

"You're obviously troubled." She noted. "I can only assume it's because of Kelly and Jeremy."

"Maybe I'm thinking about who killed that poor woman who is sitting on your lab table." He grumbled.

"If you were thinking about work, you'd be thinking out loud." She observed wryly, the said confidently, "Well I found him very charming."

"That's just the thing, Bones." Booth complained "If I had met him at a bar and just sat and talked with him, we'd probably be sharing a few beers, talking sports and having a great time. But I didn't and we're not."

"I don't understand your unrelenting need to protect her." She shook her head "I think she's done very well for herself."

"Besides getting shot." He mumbled.

"It happens to the best of us." She shrugged.

"Was that a joke?" Booth looked at her cautiously

"A fact said in jest." Bones corrected. "She has bounced back very quickly considering the circumstances."

"She's a Booth." He said proudly, as if that explained it. To Brennan, it did.

"Shouldn't you be entrusting her with the amount of respect and distance you would expect?" Brennan asked and he shot her a dirty look. "If she's a Booth and she's doing well for herself, I'm just asking what you would want if you were in her position."

"I don't need a lecture in the Golden Rule."

"I simply don't understand why you're upset."

"I'm not upset." He sighed. "I'm happy for her. But this is a first date and I don't want her to get so involved that when the inevitable happens, she'll be hurt."

"Since when did you become such a pessimist?"

"She's just so young… When I was her age-"

"You had Parker." Brennan nodded. "You don't want her to have children?"

"Not anytime soon!" He stopped at a red light and looked at her. "How did we get on this topic?"

"You're a pessimist now." She reminded and he nodded.

"Right." The light turned green and he urged his car forward. "I shouldn't have to justify this to you, Bones, but she's young, she's got her whole life ahead of her. Why should she settle down now?"

"But you're the one who pointed out it was only a first date." Brennan shrugged. "Statistically speaking, first dates don't go into second. If they do, that's not a predictor for lifelong commitments."

"But you didn't _see_ them, Bones."

"I did see them! I was there!"

"You saw them, but you didn't get the undertone of the entire evening." He rolled his eyes, not sure he wanted to explain. "To Kelly, tonight was a test and Jeremy passed. Showing up, he passed. Jeremy knows he made a good impression, and worse, he's happy about it."

"How did you get that?"

"He shook my hand."

"He shook mine too."

"You didn't see his eyes."

"I saw them when he shook my hand."

"Bones!" He was getting frustrated. "Trust me on this. The two of them have a lot more planned than just a second or third date."

"And you're bothered by this?"

Booth shook his head in response. The logic was circular in his opinion and he didn't like it at all. Kelly had a new boyfriend.


	4. Chapter 4

Booth had called Rebecca asking what time he should pick Parker up for his weekend visit. She had informed him that Kelly had taken Parker to the park near her house. It had been raining and it was the first nice day in over a week, so Kelly had done Rebecca a favor by just getting Parker out of the house. Booth smiled, remembering when he was the one saving his mother from Kelly's cabin fever.

He pulled into the parking lot and immediately began scanning the park for his sister and son.

"Take him down, Park!" He heard Kelly shout in the distance and saw his son on the soccer field. As he approached, he saw another male figure holding a football above Parker's head as Parker jumped for it. Immediately he knew it was Jeremy.

Jeremy was laughing and taunting his son playfully, but it rubbed Booth the wrong way. After taking a deep breath, he approached Kelly, standing on the sidelines and laughing.

"Can I tell Parker to kick him in the shins?" He whispered and Kelly jumped.

"Christ, Seeley." She laughed. "I've already suggested that. Jeremy is going to have some nasty bruises. Neither one is giving up anytime soon."

Parker had climbed up Jeremy's torso and was about to pull down his arm when Jeremy looked up and saw Booth standing there.

"Hey look," Jeremy pointed with his free hand. "Your dad!"

Parker jumped off and grinned at Booth, who grinned back.

"Hey, Buddy!" He greeted, but Parker soon went back to trying to get the ball from Jeremy. Without hesitation, Jeremy threw it towards Booth and he caught it deftly. Parker immediately ran over and tried to get it from Booth, but he ducked away from his son's hands and took off running across the field.

As Parker was chasing Booth, Jeremy went over and stood next to Kelly. Out of the corner of his eye, Booth saw Jeremy whisper something to Kelly then leave the soccer field. At that moment, Booth faked a stumble and Parker used that opportunity to tackle his old man.

After some wrestling, Booth let the ball go, proclaiming,

"Alright, alright, you win." He pushed himself off of the grass and groaned as he stretched out his back. "I'm getting old."

"You aren't old, Dad." Parker beamed, holding the football like a prized possession. "What are we doing today?"

"Go thank your Aunt Kelly, then you'll have to wait and see." He pushed his son and Parker took off running towards the car, shouting a quick thank you over his shoulder as he ran past Kelly.

"What are you and Jeremy doing today?" Booth approached Kelly and she smiled.

"Ever been to the Hyperion Café in Fredericksburg?" She asked and he shook his head.

"You're going all the way to Fredericksburg for coffee?"

"Well, we figured he met my brother on the first date, so I might as well meet his sister on the second." She laughed. "Getting all the messy stuff out of the way."

"All the way in Fredericksburg?" He asked in disbelief.

"She's in school there." She shrugged as she started to the car, Booth trailing behind. "What are you doing with Parker today?"

"A movie. Maybe something after." He shrugged as they approached the cars. "Well, have fun on your date."

"You too." She beamed as she got into Jeremy's waiting pickup truck.

_Of course he would have a pickup._


	5. Chapter 5

*  
Summer  
*

Brennan hesitated in the doorway to Dr. Lance Sweets' office. She wasn't entirely sure why she was there, but she had felt a strong, nagging sensation that something needed to be done. Not entirely sure how to broach the topic of Booth without him there, she lingered in the doorway until Sweets looked up from his desk.

"Dr. Brennan!" He seemed as surprised that she was there as she felt. "Come in." He rounded his desk and sat down in the seat across from his couch. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"I don't know." Brennan took a few steps into the room, but remained behind the couch.

"Can't wait for our next session?" Sweets smiled smugly and Brennan had the urge to punch him. Smug was not something she had the patience for today.

"You know I'm going to New Zealand next week, correct?" She asked suddenly and Sweets nodded.

"You're concerned about leaving Agent Booth in such a fragile state." Mentally, he pumped his fist in the air. He had known this day would come.

"I hardly think the state that Agent Booth is in would be considered fragile." She started pacing behind the couch.

"But you're concerned."

"Is that a bad thing?" She stopped and looked at him

"Do you think it's a bad thing?" He held her gaze and she rolled her eyes at the classic therapeutic technique.

"Have you seen him lately?" She asked incredulously.

"I did. He and his sister were in here last week." He nodded and crossed his legs as if preparing for a long session.

"He brought his sister to you?"

"I think it was Kelly's idea." He nodded again "We didn't get to work on much because he got called away on a case. But she's concerned too."

"What's there to be concerned about?" Brennan wondered out loud.

"I think it's healthy to be interested in the lives of your loved ones, just not overly interested."

"Are they overly interested in each others lives?" She asked after a moment, wondering what Sweets was trying to prove.

"I think they're walking a fine line right now."

"Please explain." Brennan walked around and sat across from him on the couch. She put her elbows on her knees and leaned forward.

"Functionally, Booth is the patriarch of the family. Yes, there are older males in the family, but it is Booth who has taken a keen interest in Kelly's well being. Sociobiologically, it is to his benefit to be invested in Kelly's life as she carries half his genes. But he's… out of practice. There's going to be an adjustment period for both of them." Sweets said knowledgeably. "May I suggest in the mean time that you just sit back and relax. Help Agent Booth through the process."

"But I'm going to New Zealand."

"This process isn't going to happen overnight." He suppressed a laugh. "I wouldn't even expect it to happen within the next few months. It's going to take a lot of trial and error in both Kelly and Booth's new roles."

"What do you suggest I do?" The theories made sense, but the practice alluded her.

"Keep an open line of communication with Agent Booth. Let him know that you're there for him and simply be supportive." Sweets nodded, as if it were common knowledge.

Brennan sighed. _Be supportive._


	6. Chapter 6

It was Booth's weekend with Parker so the older Booths took the youngest to the National Portrait Gallery. Brennan was taking her usual summer vacation in some remote part of the world, studying more dead bodies than Booth cared to acknowledge. Kelly had noticed in the past months that Booth had been a little distance, and she hoped that today's trip would lighten his mood.

"Stephen Colbert!" Parker ran towards the 2nd floor bathroom, hoping to catch a glimpse of one of his favorite TV personalities.

"He shouldn't know who that is." Booth shook his head as they climbed the stairs after him.

"He sometimes watches reruns with me." Kelly shrugged "Sorry. But you should be proud, he totally gets the humor."

"I don't know if I'm proud or saddened by that." He looked down the hall then looked back at his son, standing in front of the bathrooms and smiling up at the portrait. He said regretfully, "Right down the hall from all of the presidents."

"Take my picture!" Parker turned around to Booth and mimicked Stephen Colbert's pose. With a smile, Booth obliged.

"Will you humor me by looking at _actual_ portraits?" Booth asked once he took the picture.

"Sure." Parker shrugged and made his way down the hall towards the presidential exhibition. "As long as I don't have to read anything."

"Portrait Gallery." Kelly reminded. "Just lots of staring at pictures."

"Perfect."

The adults trailed behind, taking their time while looking at pictures. They occasionally answered Parker's questions but he inevitably ran off again in search of a cooler portrait. They made their way from exhibit to exhibit, not saying much. They found themselves lost at one point in what appeared to be a library.

"I think it's closed." Parker looked leery of continuing into the room.

"Maybe." Booth forged on ahead, climbing a set of stairs.

"Aunt Kelly?" Parker looked up and she shrugged. They followed Booth up the stairs and found themselves in a glass hallway. On the other side of the glass was what appeared to be an artist's studio, except it was all white and standard issue.

"This must be where they do some restoring or something?" Kelly asked and Booth looked around, trying to find clues as to where they were.

"This is so cool!" Parker ran ahead. "Dad! We're like spies!"

"Is this only cool because we're not supposed to be here or is it because this where they restore artwork?" Kelly laughed quietly to Booth.

"Probably because it looks like we're not supposed to be here." Booth agreed as they followed Parker through the winding hallway.

Once they reached the end, they opened another door and found themselves on the upper level of the library, rows of stacks surrounded them and they threaded their way through, Parker leading the way. They found another set of stairs going down and ended up in the middle of the library again.

"Well, that was fun." Parker smiled at them.

"It's like we saw a part of the museum we weren't supposed to see!" Kelly looked at Parker who was already running down the hall to the Champions exhibition.

"And we're off again." Booth rolled his eyes playfully as they took off after Parker.

*

The trio were sitting in the Chipotle across the street from the National Portrait Gallery, Booth and Parker stuffing their faces with burritos larger than most human heads and Kelly picking at her burrito bowl.

"Hey Aunt Kelly," Parker said between bites. "We should bring Unc-" He looked surprised, but recovered. "Jeremy back. He'd love being a spy."

"What about going to the Spy Museum next week, Bub?" Booth asked as he swallowed a particularly potent mouthful.

"Ok, but not Sunday." Parker nodded excitedly.

"Why not Sunday?"

"Jeremy is taking me bike riding along the Potomac River." He smiled. "Right Aunt Kelly?"

"We're going to do the bike trail." Kelly explained when Booth shot her a questioning glance.

"Not the whole thing?" Booth knew the trail was over 18 miles long, trailing from Roosevelt Island to Mount Vernon.

"Oh God, no." Kelly laughed. "We're only going to bike to Mount Vernon, then we're going to do the tour of the estate then we're going to come back." She explained. "You're more than welcomed to come with us!"

"Yeah, Dad! It'll be fun!" Parker started swinging his legs on the tall stools and smiled. "Jeremy does bike races and he bet me that he can beat me and Aunt Kelly down there." He smiled at Kelly. "We're so going to beat him, though."

"Oh heck yes." They traded a quick high five.

"Let me check my schedule next week and if I can, I'll come along." Booth nodded, hoping that Kelly didn't see the hurt in his eyes. Nor did he want his son to know that he secretly held a grudge against the man who had stolen Kelly away from him and was slowly taking his son too.


	7. Chapter 7

_I meant to post this on Friday, but I went into DC for the night with some girlfriends. It ended up snowing and I got stranded at my parent's house, hours away from my laptop. :( But the story is now complete, 18 chapters I believe. I'm just editing now so they'll go up quickly! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!_

* * *

Weeks had passed and Kelly spent most of her time locked in Rebecca's basement or a library, studying for the Bar. Booth had only seen her in passing while picking up Parker or once on the opposite side of the street in DC on a Monday morning.

Bones wasn't back from her trip yet and seeing Kelly from a distance made Booth feel very disconnected. He didn't have anyone to talk to or to distract him from serious thoughts. He didn't realize how much he relied on Bones's companionship. He knew he took her for granted at times, but never had he felt a need so strong to talk to her about something. Well, there was that one time that involved the whole L word, but he botched that. But now, he didn't want to talk about anything in particular, he just wanted to talk. He wanted to connect.

He was sitting at the bar at Founding Fathers, tilting a glass of beer and observing the patterns of bubbles that made their way up the glass.

"Hey there, stranger." A low, feminine voice approached him from behind. He smelled her perfume before she even came up and he smiled.

"Angela." He grinned at her. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask the same." She sat down next to him "Hunky G-Man drinking all alone?"

"Seems to be about right."

"Mind if I join you?" She knew he wouldn't argue and explained, "I'm meeting a friend here later, so I won't be bugging you for long."

"No, stay as long as you want, I could use some company." He sighed and accepted another glass of beer from the bartender.

"Solitary drinking is just not like you, Booth, I'm worried." She looked around. "Unless Kelly is here."

"She's probably out with Jeremy." He tried to sound as indifferent as possible, but Angela smiled.

"I think Jeremy has been really good for her." Angela attempted to comfort him. "He's really brought her out of her shell."

"Kelly has never lived in a shell." Booth laughed softly.

"Maybe so," She shrugged. "But you raised a smart girl."

"I wish I could have done more." He said remorsefully. "She's too…"

"Obstinate?" Angela tried not to laugh. "She's just like you, Booth."

"I wouldn't be dating a physical therapist months after I was shot by a lover." He grumbled.

"You're jealous!" Angela smiled knowingly.

"I am not."

"Oh, you so are." Angela reached across the table and placed her hand on top of Booth's balled up fists. "No man is going to take Kelly away from you. She's got this whole thing about you: you're all things that are supremely good and right in the world." She reassured him. "But a girl has needs an older brother can't fix. She has things she can only tell Jeremy or her girlfriends that she can't tell you. You love her, but Jeremy, he _loves_ her."

"Okay, you know what? That's enough of that." He pulled back uncomfortably.

"See, Booth," Angela laughed. "This is what I mean. You're just totally useless in some areas."

"What do you suggest I do?"

"Go find your own girlfriend. Make yourself busy." Angela winked. "I've got some good ideas where you could find one, but that's up to you."

He grunted and looked back at his beer.

"Did it ever occur to you that your problem isn't with Kelly?" He looked up at Angela and saw no prejudice in her eyes. "Maybe it's you."

"What do you mean it's me?"

"Well, I don't know what really goes on in there, but a lot of things have happened to change your life in the past year. You had a brain tumor. You welcomed a lost sister back into your life. You still have repressed feelings for certain co-workers…" She said the last part cautiously, but forged on ahead. "You've changed, Booth. Probably for the better, but you're still living your life the way you did before all of this. You can only juggle so many knives before one falls down and gashes your face open."

"Are you suggesting I let something go?"

"Not exactly." Angela shook her head. "What if you maybe asked for someone to help you juggle the knives… Or switched to rubber mallets?"

"Rubber mallets still hurt when they hit you in the face."

"I say this as a friend, Booth." Angela touched his arm lightly. "Before you judge Kelly's life, reevaluate your own."


	8. Chapter 8

*  
Fall  
*

"Bones!" Booth called. They were all standing on the platform of the Jeffersonian, Cam picking at the left over soft tissue on a new skeleton for Bones and Booth to identify. Brennan was standing in the corner, attention focused on a monitor. "Bones! Hello Bones!" He waved his hand in front of her face and she centered back onto him.

"What?" She asked distractedly

"What were you thinking about?" He asked carefully

"What?" She repeated

"There was a big flashing neon sign above your head that read "Caution, Bones Thinking!" What were you thinking about?"

"Oh, I," She looked at the x-rays on the screen again. "There's markings here… Most likely an old injury."

"Are you feeling alright?" He took a step closer "You were really focused on something that normally takes you a split second to recognize."

"I'm a little tired." She sighed. "Long flight. New Zealand is a long way away."

"Right." Booth nodded, not entirely sure he believed her.

"So Booth," Cam interrupted as she was placing bits of flaking skin into a Petri dish. "Has Kelly heard back from the Virginia Bar Association?"

"Huh?" Booth turned around and looked at her "Oh, yeah. Good news! She passed!"

"That's more than good news, Booth." Brennan rebuked as she made her way to the remains. "She's officially a lawyer now. I have heard the exam is very challenging."

"She wasn't sure she was going to pass." He shrugged. He had been more confident, but he wasn't ready to admit that. "So, what have we got?" He asked, leaning against a table.

"Nothing more than we had five minutes ago." Cam smiled.

"Have you taken her out to celebrate?" Angela approached from the other side of the platform. Booth looked at her blankly. "Kelly. The Bar. You should take her out for a really nice dinner."

"Eh," He shrugged, "Jeremy did that."

Brennan suddenly remembered what Sweets had told her. Be supportive.

"I think it would mean something totally different coming from you." She supplied and everyone looked at her. "As the patriarch of your family, showing your approval of her accomplishments will only add to her ability to achieve more." No one responded and she added, "Or you could just let Jeremy handle it."

"Ok, hey, Jeremy is not handling anything for me." He puffed up his chest. "Parker and I were planning on something special for her, we just haven't decided on what yet."

"She would appreciate that." Brennan nodded.

"Buy her some nice jewelry." Hodgins came across the platform holding up an empty Petri dish. "You got any particulates for me?"

"We've got tons." Cam started putting something small into the dish. "Start with that."

"I bought her a car." Booth reminded. "If that doesn't say, "I'm your patriarch and I'm proud of you" I don't know what does."

"Have you told her that you're proud of her?" Hodgins asked

"What?"

"Have the words, "I'm proud of you" come out of your mouth recently?" Angela attempted to help.

"Sure." He shrugged. "Maybe."

"I'd start with those." Cam laughed.

"I need to reference this against something in my office." Brennan looked at the x-ray and used it as a thinly veiled excuse to help Booth out. "Booth, I could use some assistance."

"Sure." He nodded, glad to escape persecution.

"You wish she had failed the exam?" Brennan asked once they were in the safety of her office.

"I don't know." Booth ran his hand through his hair. "Maybe a little."

"It's perfectly acceptable to resist change." Brennan nodded, leaning against her desk.

"I'm not resisting it." Booth stood next to her and mimicked her position. "I'm trying to adjust. Apparently, I don't adjust very well."

"I think you're doing a good job, considering the situation." She offered and he smiled.

"Thanks." He said begrudgingly "It's just, I've always had to," He mimed throwing punches in the air. "Fight for her. Now I'm going to have to fight against her."

"There's hundreds of defense attorneys in the Metro area." She reasoned. "It's not very probable you'll ever have to," She mimicked the punches. "Fight her."

"But the chance is there." He sighed

"Probably years away, but you're right, it's there." She conceded. "Kelly is very capable of being rational if you'd just let her." Brennan offered, but saw a flash of anger pass through her partner's eyes.

"If I let her?"

"I'm simply saying if you're worried about it, talk to her. No harm can come from talking about your feelings." She smiled a little "See, I'm listening in therapy!"

"Sometimes communicating with Kelly is like talking to a brick wall." He grumbled as he crossed his arms.

"You're afraid she's going to lose some intangible part of herself, like her soul." The realization hit Brennan

"Is that so wrong?" Booth chuckled. "Maybe she is selling her soul to the devil."

"I think your fears are unwarranted."

"You think?"

"Let me talk to her, Booth." Brennan pleaded, looking up into his eyes. He stared back with surprising tenderness. "Rational woman to rational woman."

"You'd do that for me?" He grinned a lopsided grin.

_I'd do a lot more for you if you'd let me._


	9. Chapter 9

_I want to thank those of you who have responded to my earlier challenge for suggestions… I got a really good one and I've actually abandoned the story I needed it for and started another one… ha, not the original intention, but it works… But it still stands, if you think of anything you want to ask or anything you want to see happen to the characters I'm writing about, let me know!_

_And with that, I present to you my favorite chapters of Young Hearts Carousel… From here on out, I had so much fun writing this._

* * *

Brennan and Kelly walked down the brick paved sidewalks of King Street in Old Town Alexandria, heading towards the waterfront. For the most part, they walked in silence, trading quips about what they saw on the street or where they would have drinks.

"What about that place?" Brennan pointed across the street and Kelly shook her head.

"That building is cursed." Kelly laughed when Brennan eyed her skeptically. "8 restaurants in 10 years? Why else can no one get it right?"

"The architecture of the building is beautiful." Brennan said, almost sadly.

"I hear this new place is terrible. They say they have a sushi bar, but they're so new they haven't started it up yet. Also, they don't have their liquor license yet." Kelly sighed. "The place before it had a decent bar, but that was about it."

"You know your restaurants." Brennan hid a smile.

"Oh please, I was a bartender for the better part of 5 years." Kelly laughed as she started crossing the street. "I read the restaurant world like you read bones." They made their way across the crowded street corner and passed under a little walk way, coming out onto a pier filled with people. Families, couples, young teenagers enjoying freedom away from their parents for a few hours, they all seemed to congregate around street musicians and a man making balloon animals. "There." Kelly pointed to a large timber and glass building on the waterfront. "They have the most amazing Riesling by the glass. I'm normally not a sweet wine drinker, but this stuff is like the nectar of life."

"I trust your professional judgment." Brennan laughed as they climbed the stairs to the restaurant.

They sat down at a table in the bar area, facing the Potomac River. They ordered drinks from a waiter and then settled back in their seats, both looking over the river.

"A few years ago, Ed Ream, the owner of the bar I used to work at," Kelly reminded Brennan, then continued her story "Took us out on his boat for Fourth of July. He anchored around the harbor into D.C. just past the airport. We just sat on the bow, drinking beer and watching the fireworks. That was the last time I remember being truly at peace with life." She sighed. "I want a boat so badly."

"Well, you're a lawyer now, maybe one day you can buy one." Brennan said reassuringly, remembering the last time she felt at peace on a boat.

"Maybe." Kelly chuckled. "I can't imagine Seeley would like that very much."

"Really? Why?"

"Oh come on, can you imagine all the trouble I can get myself into on a boat?" She looked at Brennan dubiously. "You know Seeley just as well as I do, probably better. How can you _not_ tell me he'd be nervous about it?"

"He cares about you." She offered, knowing it wouldn't help any.

"Sure, sure." Kelly smiled as the waiter dropped off their drinks. "Only way to make it worse would be if Jeremy got a boat and I went on it."

"I believe you're applying a stereotype to Booth."

"It's a well-deserved stereotype, Temperance." She laughed in response. "Stereotypes are stereotypes because there's a little bit of truth to them. Like criminals. It's a stereotype to say that they're dangerous, but that doesn't make it any less true. Sure, some are harmless, but some are what nightmares are made out of." She shrugged. "I still like to err on the side of caution and assume they're all dangerous."

"I suppose there is some truth in that." Brennan nodded, taking a sip of her drink

"So how was New Zealand?" Kelly changed the subject quickly. "Is it really as beautiful as they say?"

"What I saw of it was." She shrugged, "I spent most of my time with remains at a Māori burial ground."

"Some tribe indigenous to New Zealand?"

"A Polynesian tribe who have survived to today. It's really a fascinating study on the survival of an entire culture, despite signs of decline." Brennan smiled, excited to be sharing her knowledge.

"Like Native Americans?" Kelly seemed genuinely interested

"Yes!"

"Minus the whole casino thing, right?"

"Another stereotype." Brennan pointed out good naturedly.

"I apologize." Kelly nodded. "We have a client right now with a gambling problem and he wants his whole defense to be "The Native Americans made me do it!" Which I think is absolutely ridiculous."

"Do you struggle with cases that you find cause cognitive dissonance within yourself?"

"Cognitive dissonance." Kelly nodded with a smile. "I like that phrasing, and yes, I do. Especially this guy, I mean, in my family we're all some sort of addict and I think we've all accepted that it wasn't necessarily our fault, but it wasn't anyone else who pushed us to do what we did. We were coping the best way we knew how."

"You and your brother are more similar than I'd like to admit." Brennan laughed to herself. She had thought about that statement before she had said it, but initially instead of "your brother" she had thought "Booth". But when she said it out loud, "Booth" didn't fit. She wasn't talking about her partner, the agent, at that moment, she was talking about the man.

"I always felt that if Seeley and I were book, we'd be on our own page; a secret page." Kelly's eyes gleamed with laughter. "Now it seems like the page is so secret, we both have no idea where it is."

"A secret page." Brennan repeated, her lips hinting at a smile.

"That's how I always saw us." She shrugged. "Two unique individuals, conquering a world full of drunks, cheaters and liars." She winked at Brennan. "I may or may not have listened a little too closely to those bedtime stories Seeley and Jared told me."

"You do know he's bothered by your choice in profession."

"He hasn't really kept _that_ a secret." Kelly finished her glass of wine and placed it on the table with conviction. "I want to show you something."

"Alright."

"No, we need to go there." Kelly signaled for the waiter to bring over their check.

They paid their tab and left the bar. Brennan followed Kelly to her car, passing back by the street performers on the pier.

"I've always like the water glass guy." Kelly said as they passed by a man standing in front of a table with what seemed to be hundreds of glasses all filled with different amounts of water. "He can play some amazing songs on water glasses. Jared could do that, too."

"How do you play music on a water glass?" Brennan looked curiously over her shoulder at the man.

"You wet your finger and run it along the rim." Kelly supplied. "I can't do it, I apparently don't have the right touch. Jared would do it at dinner and drive Pops crazy. Seeley and I tried it, but we could never quite get it."

"I see." Brennan nodded and continued to follow Kelly through the streets of Alexandria towards her car.

They drove down the George Washington Parkway in silence. Within minutes, Kelly was pulling into a parking lot on the side of the parkway. She turned off her car and looked at Brennan.

"It's right over there." She pointed across a flat expanse of grass towards a picnic table placed right on the edge of the Potomac River.

It was a warm fall evening and the sun was about to pass over the horizon. The sky was a brilliant shade of orange as Brennan trailed Kelly towards the waters edge. Kelly passed the picnic table and made her way down a steep incline, climbing across rocks until she reached on that was large enough for two people to sit on and she sat down. Brennan picked her way down the rocks and sat next to Kelly.

"I've been here before." Brennan said after a moment. "Well, not here, but right over there. To the marsh. There was a dead body found there a few years ago."

"Such a romantic mental image." Kelly laughed as she pulled her knees to her chest and inhaled a deep breath. "Me, I like the smell of the polluted Potomac River. Rubber tires, dead fish and all that jazz."

"This is a very beautiful spot." Brennan commented, looking around at the changing leaves, still hanging on the trees.

"Jeremy took me here a few months ago. We were riding on the bike path right over there," She pointed behind them. "And he said this was a view I had to see for myself." To their left up the river, Brennan could make out landmarks of D.C. Maryland was across from them on the other shore. To their right, they just saw an endless river. "I can sit here and see everything I want to see… I can see the confines of D.C. and the freedom that lies just beyond." Kelly said, following Brennan's gaze down the river.

Brennan took in the view for a few minutes then asked,

"Are you happy, Kelly?"

"Happy?" As a breeze came off of the river, Kelly shook her head, letting her hair fly wild. "Most days."

"Are you satisfied with your job?" Brennan questioned as Kelly closed her eyes and inhaled deeply before turning her eyes back onto Brennan.

"Are you acting as a spy?" She teased.

"If you're referring to my partnership with Booth and my concern for the both of you, then I guess I am." Brennan admitted with a bemused smile.

"I love my job. I love the challenge. It makes me feel like a rebel on the wrong side of the fence. But then I can come home, safe and sound." She breathed another deep breath. "Right now, I have everything I've always wanted."


	10. Chapter 10

_Alright, YAY! I wrote this scene first… and it was kinda hard to go backwards and forwards from here, but I did it, hopefully in a understandable way. *whew* Let me know what you think! We've still got 8 more chapters, so let me know if you're still with me on the journey! …But I'm telling you, I'm really happy with it, so hopefully you will be too!_

_Thanks so much! …and I warned you it was a monster ;)_

* * *

He had gotten a text message from Kelly that simply read: _If you're anywhere near the area, meet me at Vermillion when you get the chance. Big news!_

Not knowing what to expect when he arrived, he navigated the streets of Alexandria, looking for a spot to park his SUV on the narrow streets near the bar where she had said to meet. Once he found one, he made his way to the bar, walked in the doors and looked through the crowded lounge with rustic décor for his sister. He spotted her at the bar, chatting with a woman seated on her left.

As he approached, he heard her laughing and he smiled.

"Big news? Should I sit down?" He asked as she whipped around and smiled. It had been weeks since he'd seen her and he was pleased to know she was still doing alright.

"Only sit down if you plan on drinking to my success!" She smiled and introduced him to the woman she was chatting with. "Seeley, I'd like you to meet my co-counsel, Katrina Harris."

"Co-counsel?" He smiled at her, not entirely sure he was as thrilled as she was.

"Big, important case!" Katrina nudged Kelly "Virginia Court of Appeals!"

Booth warily sat on the bar stool next to Kelly, listening as the women excitedly explained.

"So the guy we're representing, his original court appointed attorney decided it wasn't something he could do." Katrina spilled.

"Martin, our boss, he heard about it and decided to take it pro bono." Kelly continued. "But his case load is like, whoa." She mimed a tall stack of files. "Huge. So he kicked it over to Katrina."

"He asked if I wanted co-counsel, so I demanded he give me the best."

"Guess what, Seeley, that's me!" Kelly laughed. "I'm the best. My first real case. Not just a lackey. Me! Courtroom!" She squealed almost incoherently.

Booth quickly order a drink from the passing bartender as he smiled and gave her his congratulations.

"Hey Pusher," Katrina leaned in to Kelly. "I see Dylan Werner over there. I want to congratulate him on his win today."

"Oh," Kelly looked over her shoulder. "Give him my congratulations as well. I'm going to hang with Seeley for a minute."

"I'll see you tomorrow." She took her purse and smiled at Booth. "Nice meeting you."

"You too." Booth nodded with a smile as Katrina walked away. "Pusher?" He looked at Kelly.

"I have a work place nickname." She laughed. "Martin said I was the best pencil pusher he had, then one day, everyone is calling me Pusher." She shrugged. "Martin started it, but Katrina says it's because I pushed all the other new guys out of my way."

"That sounds…" he looked for the right word

"Brutal?" She smiled "I know, I love it."

"So where's Jeremy? I thought I'd see him here tonight." Seeley looked around.

"He was for a little bit, but he had to teach a class." She twirled her wine glass around in her hand. "He said we'd celebrate later tonight."

"Ok," Seeley took a sip of his drink and cringed. "Stop that."

"What? I just said we were going to celebrate." She laughed. "You made it disgusting."

"So you're taking on a big case." Booth dodged the topic and Kelly smiled.

"This is huge." She nodded. "I just passed the bar, I haven't really had to pay my dues yet, you know? I'm really fortunate Martin has so much faith in me."

"You are pushy." Booth nodded.

"You know, it wouldn't kill you to be a little bit excited for me." She grumbled as she looked into her now empty wine glass.

"I am." He said begrudgingly.

"No you're not." She sighed and called the bartender over to get their tab. She threw down a credit card before Booth could argue and looked at him. "We should go somewhere else to talk."

"If that's what you want to do." He shrugged and she sighed in exasperation.

"You're such a girl."

She trailed after him as he negotiated through the crowd. They stood on the sidewalk and Kelly pointed up the street.

"My car is that way."

"So is mine." He nodded and took off in the direction of their cars.

"Why are you so mad at me?" She chased him down the sidewalk

"You sue the Commonwealth of Virginia for a living!" He surprised himself when he threw it over his shoulder while he started fishing for his keys. He didn't stop walking and he didn't apologize.

"The court refused the motion to suppress when my client's rights were violated!" She tried to explain

"Why would the court refuse a motion to suppress?" He stopped and turned to look at her.

"Because the judge is a jerk." She shrugged. Booth turned on his heels and started down a side alley towards his car.

"The judge is upholding the Constitution!"

"Not Judge Green." She contested as Booth grunted and started down the sidewalk.

"So why do you think your client's rights were violated?" He stopped again, this time in front of his SUV. He looked around, making sure no one else was in sight and he saw Kelly's car across the street.

"Unlawful search and seizure. The upstanding State Police violated my client's fourth amendment rights! They arrested him outside of his house after he brandished a firearm. He has been convicted of a drug felony within the past 10 years, so he violated Virginia Code 18.2-308.2. Class 6 felony, minimum of 2 years, then they broke into his locked house, finding drugs." She rattled off

"But he's guilty!" He insisted

"But it's illegal!" She countered, knowing she was right.

"They had probably cause." He attempted. It was really bothering him that Kelly was able to speak legalese better than he could.

"No, they had reasonable suspicion, but not probably cause." She pointed out and he had to bite his tongue to stop him from arguing more. "I'm not saying my client deserves to walk free, he deserves those two years, but I'd really appreciate it if the men in blue could do things the right way!"

"You'd be out of a job. And your client is going to be walking free." He accented his statement by repeatedly pointing and accusatory finger at her.

"I'm just trying to get his drug charges dropped. Why? Because they violate his Fourth Amendment rights! Aren't you pro-Constitution and all of the inalienable rights therein?" She crossed her arms and glared at him

"For the people who deserve them!" As he was glaring at her, he tried to contain the shock he felt. His little Kelly was arguing the Constitution with him. His little Kelly who had been his shadow as she was growing up, was stepping out from behind him and looking for her own spotlight. They were Booths, they were good at what they did, always in control, but there was a look in Kelly's eyes that made him stop and stare in wonder. An almost maniacal intensity flashed through her eyes before she turned away. He hadn't seen a look in someone's eyes like that in a very long time. Not since their father…

"Hi, my name is Seeley Booth and I am morally superior to all of you plebeians." Kelly waved her hands in the air in disdain as she walked towards her car, hoping she would have the last word.

"I have to be that person." He called out "I didn't have a choice."

"You _always_ have a choice!" She stopped in front of her car

"You wouldn't have survived if it wasn't for me." He spat through his teeth as he approached her "You would have been lost in the world."

"How dare you!" Kelly shouted "How dare you speak to me like you know me! I am 26 years old and I still look in the mirror every morning wondering who the hell I am, if I'm going to survive the day. You think that you can read my face? You think you know what's best for me? No one knows what's going on underneath. No one ever has!"

"I've always done what's best for you." He pointed at her intensely

"You've always done what you felt is best. Has anyone bothered to ask me ever?"

"This is why no one asks you, Kelly! You get too emotional." He shouted back "I see what you're going through and I'm going to be able, from a objective point of view, to help you!"

"Help me?" She laughed angrily "You can't even help yourself! Open your eyes, Seeley, you're so painfully in love with Bones it makes me want to vomit. You can't even see past your own nose to know what's best for you so why do you think I'm going to be able to trust you?"

"I know." He said softly.

"What?"

"I _know_ I'm in love with Bones. But it's kind of difficult to get past that when you work together and when she has no intention of ever reciprocating those emotions! You just don't understand." With every word, his tone became more accusatory

"I don't understand?" Kelly shouted back incredulously. "Did you meet my mother? Because I'm fairly certain that you met our father. I _know_ what it's like to love and adore someone so much that it hurts. I _know_ what it's like to go to bed every night praying that tomorrow will be different, that they'll see what you mean to them. I feel that gaping wound in my chest every time I think about them."

Booth, standing by the front of her car, suddenly kicked the tire with rage.

"Don't kick my car!" She ran up to him and pushed him away

"It's my car. I'm paying for it." He reminded heatedly

"Wasn't it a gift? Is it not in my possession? Is that not nine tenths of the law?" She sneered

"Then I'm taking it back!"

"Take it back! I don't care! Then you can kick it all you want!" She cried, jamming her hands into the pockets of her black pea coat.

All of the sudden, the expression on Booth's face melted from fury to amusement and he started laughing.

"What the hell is so funny?" She glared at him.

"We had a fight like this before." He tried to sober up. "About a My Little Pony."

"I don't remember it." She shook her head, wondering why it was so comical.

"Sure you do, we were living at Pops' house and Grandma had just bought you all of these new toys." He prompted and she still looked lost. "Jared stole a My Little Pony and we burned the hair off, thinking ponies shouldn't have pink hair so no hair, in our opinion, was better." She blinked and he continued. "You were 4 and you told us that if we wanted to burn hair off of ponies, we should go buy our own because that pony was yours, given to you by someone who wasn't us, so we had no right to ruin your things."

"I said that?" She laughed a little

"You're a smart kid, Kelly." He said after a moment.

"Does that refer to the pony incident or now?" She asked cautiously.

"Both I guess." He shrugged and looked at his now scuffed shoe.

"Seeley," She took a step forward. "That's just cruel."

"What's cruel?" He looked around confused.

"We're fighting, I'm mad, don't tell some cute, cliché story of how we resolved a fight when we were little!" She crossed her arms defensively.

"We didn't resolve the fight. You cried for days." He tried not to laugh again. He looked in her eyes, hoping that they were twinkling behind her anger, giving him a hint of the Kelly he knew. He stared back into brown, empty pools of cold rock.

"You are so close-minded and condescending." Kelly said in a measured tone. "I hate you so much." She reached for her keys and headed towards the driver's side door of her car. However, Booth was quicker. He firmly pressed his hand on the top of the door. Kelly reached for the handle and pulled, but it didn't get anywhere. She sighed and looked up at Booth.

"I don't have to justify myself to you. You were a baby." He said evenly

"In the grand scheme of things, we're both still young." She looked up at him with anger in her eyes.

The passion that flickered behind her eyes frightened Booth a little. Reluctantly, he pulled his hand away from her door and let her get in. He stepped back as she turned on the car and pulled out of the parking space, leaving him standing alone in the street.


	11. Chapter 11

"Booth!" Brennan looked up in surprise when he entered her office early in the morning, not wearing his usual suit. "What are you doing here? Do we have a case?"

"I'm taking a personal day." Defeated, he flopped onto her couch

"And you came to the Jeffersonian?" She looked at him skeptically, trying desperately to read him

"I didn't know where else to go." He admitted after a moment of thought. He didn't know why he really came here, but it just felt right.

"You look really bothered by something." She stood up from her desk and slowly approached the couch.

"Kelly said I didn't know her." He grumbled as he put a hand to his forehead

"That's ridiculous! Of course you know her!" Brennan sat down next to him, crossing her legs underneath her so that she faced him

"That's what I said!" He sighed. "But you know, she said something else."

"Oh?"

"In the grand scheme of things, we're all young." He quoted and turned his head so he was looking at her

"She makes a valid point, the earth itself-" She stopped when she saw he wasn't listening.

"Bones, I don't want to get old." He looked at her with pleading eyes.

"It's an inevitability." She provided

"No, I mean, if this is us, being young, I don't want it to change." He grabbed her hand. "I don't want to change this. What we do, who we are… If this is us being young, then let's keep it that way."

"I don't understand."

He dropped her hand and rested his head on the back of the couch.

"I don't know if I do either."

"So I'm taking it you fought with Kelly."

"Yeah." He closed his eyes

"What else did she say?" She prompted

"Hm?"

"She must have said something other than what you told me. I don't see why you'd be so upset." She was about to reach out and touch his arm when he sat forward, resting his elbows in his thighs.

"She said no one bothers to ask her anything. And I thought about it, and she's right. I've been so busy, all these years, to protect her from I'm most afraid of that I haven't bothered to ask her what she's afraid of." He paused for a moment and looked at her. "I'm worried about her."

"She's a grown woman, Booth." Brennan floundered for what to say. "Grown women have fears, but I can say with confidence she sees your protection as," She shrugged, "A blanket."

"I'm a blanket?"

"Warm and soft. Familiar." She explained.

"I'm soft." He looked at her dumbfounded.

"No, you're familiar." She stressed.

"Not that familiar, I guess." He stood up and frantically started pacing. "I get people. That's my thing, people. I trust my gut, I do what's right every day…" He stopped and looked at her "But I misjudged her."

"Mistakes happen." She shrugged, then smiled when Booth rolled his eyes. "Maybe not to you, but I know I find it very difficult to read most people. For example, right now, why are you so distressed? This sounds like a harmless argument. We have them all of the time."

"She said she hated me." Booth said sadly as he sat back down on the couch.

"She didn't mean it."

"No," He shook his head. "She did. She hates that I can't accept her."

"But you do accept her!" Brennan encouraged. "You're a very supportive person."

"I love her, Bones, I can't accept her."

Brennan sat back and looked at Booth carefully. He was looking at his hands, twisting them together as if trying to control his anger.

"She lied. All those years ago, she lied to me." He looked up, tears threatening to spill from his unblinking eyes. "I really, really tried to forget that, but I can't put it aside. She ruined her life willingly, which I can begrudgingly respect." He admitted and Brennan sat back a little. "She took what could have been a good thing and turned it around. And now, she's playing the part of someone I detest. I think defense attorneys are sick, pathetic bastards. And what's worse, she loves it."

"She sees it as a puzzle." Brennan said cautiously. "Like we see cases as puzzles."

"She sees a perfectly complete puzzle…" He shook his head and looked back at his hands. "The puzzles we put together, she rips them apart."

"Not our puzzles." She offered softly

"No, not ours." He laughed sardonically. "Thank God they aren't our puzzles."

"I think you should be talking to Kelly about this, not me." Brennan said after a minute of silence.

"I love my little sister, Bones." He said, almost pleading her to believe him. "The day of the Johnson murder investigation, the day I saw her walk down those stairs at that shady bar, my life, my heart," He brought his hand up to his chest as if to hold himself in. "I felt like a missing piece was put back. I just want the little Kelly back. _My_ little Kelly."

Brennan sat forward on her knees and wrapped her arms around Booth as tightly as she could. He let her hold him for a minute, then pulled back and looked at her with inquiry written all over his face.

"Your Kelly once told me that when someone's world is falling apart, the best thing that could happen was someone who is willing to hold it together." She explained. "I felt like you needed to be… held together."

The corner of Booth's mouth curved up into a smile. He opened his mouth to respond when his phone started ringing. He looked at the caller ID and answered.

"Pops." He said into the phone, casting a quick apologetic glance in Brennan's direction. "Yeah, we had a fight…" He stood up and started pacing again. "What did she say? She what?" He looked at Brennan with a fresh look of panic. "Do you know where she went? No, I'm coming up. I'll be there in a few hours." He shut his phone and stared at it, like it was about to come alive.

"Booth, what is it?" Brennan asked nervously

"Pops said Kelly drove up to see him this morning. She sounded upset." He said slowly. "She mumbled something about fixing the past and left."

"Are you going to go see if you can find her?" She stood up and slowly approached him.

"I don't have a choice." He said dismally

"You do have a choice." Brennan assured him, but he only offered a half smile in response. "What?"

"Kelly said that last night too." He shook his head, trying to clear his mind. "And when it comes down to it, I may have a choice, but I know I'd be mad at myself for choosing the wrong way."

"I'm coming with you." Brennan hurried over to her desk and grabbed her jacket.

"Bones," He started but she held up a hand.

"You're not going alone because I know you and what you might do." She reached for her purse and herded him out the door.

"Are you protecting Kelly?"

"No, I'm protecting you this time." She pushed him a little harder. "Get used to it."


	12. Chapter 12

Following his instincts that he relied on as an FBI agent, Booth drove himself and Brennan to Pops' retirement community, the last place Kelly had been seen. The last clue. They rode in silence, Brennan not wanting to intrude on Booth's privacy and Booth not wanting to admit that he was pleased that she had insisted she came along.

They walked into the main building and signed in at the front desk, asking the secretary if they knew where Hank Booth was.

"This time of day?" The secretary laughed a high pitched laugh "Probably in the living room flirting." She pointed in the direction of a back hall, giving them directions to where they would most likely find Hank.

"Shrimp!" Hank looked up when Booth and Brennan walked through the double doorway. He was sitting at a table with an elderly woman playing dominoes. "Ruth," He looked at her, "My grandson Seeley and the bewitching Temperance Brennan."

"Why Hank," The woman had an indiscernible southern drawl. "All of your grandchildren are just stopping by today, aren't they." She smiled at Booth and Brennan. "You two make a lovely couple. Hank, when they have kids, I want to see pictures."

"We're partners." Brennan corrected and the old woman smiled.

"Whatever it is you call it these days." She refocused on the dominoes.

"Ruth, I'm going to go talk with my grandson, but I'll be back." He stood up and reassured her.

"You always come back for more." She winked as they left the room, Booth casting occasional glances back at the woman, trying to decide if she was checking him out as they walked away.

"Pops," Booth said once they made their way down the hallway to a little private sitting room. "What happened."

"Well," He settled into a seat and patted next to him, silently instructing Brennan to sit down. "I got a call this morning from Holly, the front desk girl, and she said that there was someone here to see me. It was before breakfast, so she didn't know if I would be up and just wanted to check. I came down and there she was." He shook his head and wondered out loud, "When did she grow up?"

"She's been gone a long time, Pops." Booth reminded.

"Well I know that, but she looked so sad." He looked at Brennan "Like someone had run over her puppy. She had the same look she had when your dad came to visit that first time. Angry, afraid, but expectant."

"She and Booth had a fight." Brennan supplied

"She told me that much. She said something about how you're mad at her because she's a lawyer?" Hank looked accusatorily at Booth. "Why would you be mad about that?"

"It's the kind of lawyer, Pops." Booth tried to explain, but it fell on deaf ears.

"A lawyer is a lawyer. She's going to make good money, so let her make money!"

"She's about to free a convicted felon." He tried to reason again and Hank shook his head.

"We're all felons, Shrimp, just some of us get caught."

"Legal debate aside," Brennan interrupted. "Where did she go?"

"I don't know." Hank sighed and looked at Booth. "She asked about your mom, wanted to know if she was still living in the house. I called over, but Alice hadn't heard from her."

"Do you think she's going to do something?" Booth leaned in and studied his grandfather.

"I think she's very capable." He nodded regretfully. "I think there's enough anger there that something is going to blow. She got that from your dad."

"Did she say anything else." Booth demanded, now more worried than before

"She said she needed a way to fix the past." He repeated from the phone conversation. "I told her it was useless, but she said she had to try."

"Thanks, Pops." Booth stood up and Brennan took that as a cue to do the same. "I'll call you when I find something. Call me if you hear anything."

"I will." Hank stood up too and led them out of the sitting area. Halfway down the hall, he stopped and turned to Booth. "Take care of her."

"I don't think it's my job anymore, Pops." Booth said unhappily.

"You're here." Hank patted his upper arm. "That's what counts."

*

They were heading for Booth's car when he flipped open his phone. Brennan watched as he swiftly dialed a familiar number. He put the phone to his ear as he unlocked the car doors and slid in.

"Hi, it's me." He said softy into the phone. "I know, I'm sorry… I just saw Pops…" He looked over to Brennan and mouthed to words "my mom" and she nodded. "What kind of car?" he looked hopeful. "That's her. When did it leave?" He nodded and said, "Thanks, Mom. I'll call you if I find anything… Yes, I know… I know… Parker loves you, too, Mom… I know… I promise. Bye, Mom." He hung up the phone and looked at Brennan with what she read as hope. "Mom said there was a black Subaru Forrester parked in front of her house for about fifteen minutes about two hours ago."

"That's Kelly." Brennan nodded, starting to feel the tingling she felt all over her body when she discovered what killed a person by reading the bones.

"The car left, but we now know she can't be more than two hours away." Booth turned on his car. "There's only so many places she would be."


	13. Chapter 13

Booth racked his brain for every place he had ever heard Kelly talk about. They stopped by the bar where Booth had found her, all those years ago, when she was just 15. The bartender shook his head, not recalling seeing any blonds walk into the bar. Booth flashed his badge and the bartender amended his statement, saying, "Just business men and drunks this time of day. Sorry."

They drove by Booth's old high school, circling the parking lot, looking for a black Subaru with DC plates. They tried the ice cream shop, the dry cleaners where Kelly had a part-time job, and their old church. No Kelly.

Booth was driving down a deserted road and Brennan was looking at the scenery as it flew by. She felt as though she was being taken on a whirlwind trip down memory lane. She had always thought Booth would one day take her to see the that had formed the man, but she never imagined they'd be chasing his little sister through town.

"Booth," She hit his arm unexpectedly. "Is that a cemetery?"

"Yeah." He grumbled.

"Would Kelly's mom be buried there?" She asked, looking at him with excitement.

"She…" Booth squinted his eyes, as if willing a memory to come forward. Without answering, he made the first right and slowly drove through the winding woods until they reached the actual cemetery.

He parked his car on the edge of the lot and started scanning for signs of Kelly. Brennan saw her first.

"I think," She pointed and Booth followed her finger and saw a small shape, low to the ground at the foot of a small hill. She didn't need to finish because he was already unbuckling his seat belt. "I'll stay here." She said softly and he looked at her gratefully.

"I won't be long." He promised.

"Take your time." She assured him and with a smile as he exited the car.


	14. Chapter 14

Booth slowly approached the slouched figure, sitting cross-legged on the grass next to a grave. While Booth and Brennan had been at the high school, it had started to drizzle in a cold, steady and annoying way. Booth silently cursed himself for not bringing an umbrella or a blanket with him.

He thought about announcing his approach, but as he got closer, he saw Kelly had her head in her hands and seemed to be losing a staring contest with the gravestone in front of her. Stephanie Showalter. Booth cringed. That name had caused so many of these problems. So he quietly sat down next to Kelly on the cold grass. After minutes of sitting by her side, he cleared his throat.

"Hi Stephanie, it's Seeley, Joe's oldest son." He said softly. "I know we weren't close, but I just wanted to tell you how amazing your daughter is, and that I realize you had very little to do with it, but I think you would be proud. She's a lawyer, and she's a good one. She's got this apparently really cute boyfriend, but I don't see it. Kelly has her act together, and we're just fortunate that she's still in our lives."

Kelly didn't move for a few more minutes, but when she did, she turned her head and glared at Booth. The rain had soaked her hair, causing thin dark blonde strands to cling to her cheeks. He started to reach up, to clear the hair out of her eyes so that he could see her and a memory surged forward of giving a small Kelly a bath and wiping tears away when soap got in her eyes. Her eyes were cold and dry now, but he could tell she had been crying. He stared back blankly, not knowing what to say.

"I already told her that stuff." Kelly said evenly and then turned back to look at the gravestone.

"Stephanie," Booth continued to address the gravestone. "What she didn't tell you is that I love her, she's my baby sister. I want nothing more in the world than to see her smile. I was her first smile after you left her with us, I bet you didn't know that. She never cried those first few days, but she never smiled. Then one day, I was looking in her crib and she just looked up at me with those annoyingly puppy dog-like eyes and smiled."

"Mom," Kelly said when he paused. "What he's not telling you is that he wants me to smile, but he wants me to do it on his terms. It's like saying only rainbows and unicorns can make you smile, but not the sound of laughter. Or saying you can only turn left for the rest of your life. Or maybe, in terms you would understand, only doing Marijuana, forgetting all about Cocaine and Meth."

"I think she gets it, Kelly." Booth cut in.

"She's dead. She's not getting much of anything." Kelly mumbled

"Stephanie," Booth ignored her. "I just don't understand where she's coming from now. When she was little, it was so easy to help her because she wanted me to. Now, she doesn't want my help. I don't understand how you let her go so easily, Stephanie, because we're both adults now and I still can't let her go. She's still my little baby. She was a constant in my world, I had to always protect Kelly. Now, she's back and my world has been turned on it's ear and I just don't know how to adjust. She says I want her to only turn left for the rest of her life, but that's not true. Maybe I'm just selfish, Stephanie. If I'm going to be turning left, I want her to turn with me so that I don't have to let go."

Booth breathed a sigh of relief. He knew Bones didn't understand his need to talk to the dead, but talking to Stephanie, and not to Kelly, helped him work through what he had beating himself up over. Letting go.

He refocused his gaze and turned to look at Kelly and was met by her eyes softly transfixed on his face.

"Mom," She said flatly, still looking at Booth. "I don't know why you let me go so easily, either."

Booth laughed a deep, throaty laugh.

"So that's what's this all about? You're not happy I grew up?"

"I've seen an entire world of terrible things. I've been beaten and broken. I know that things don't always go the way that I planned, but I don't want you to know that."

"I lived on my own for 10 years, Seeley. I may not have been beaten and broken, but I've seen terrible things, too." She commiserated. "I grew up without you."

"Maybe that's why I'm angry." He rubbed his hand across the back of his neck, wiping off stray rain droplets. "You weren't supposed to."

Kelly sighed and looked back at the gravestone.

"There's any opening for an assistant U.S. District Attorney in D.C." She said after a moment. "After this case, I'll apply."

"No." He said, shocking himself as well as Kelly. "You're going to keep your job and you're going to be damn good at it. You're a Booth. No offense, Stephanie, but I think we've earned the right to claim her."

"They did raise me and all." Kelly nodded with a smile

They sat together for a few more minutes, each lost in their own thoughts.

"You do realize that you just said I could keep my job, right?" Kelly looked at him suspiciously. "The job you so abhorrently detest?"

"I can't live your life for you," He sighed "Even though I think it's terribly wrong that you're helping people get away with everything under the sun."

"You're allowed to think that." She nodded "But I don't see it that way." He looked at her curiously "I see it as helping people who society has deemed unreachable. If I can make a difference in one life, then I'm better for it. If the difference for someone is life and death and I can be that difference? Then I'm going to do it."

"I understand what you're saying, but it still seems so convoluted to me." He admitted.

"Convicted felons aren't all that bad. Not once you get to know them." She said with a hint of a smile playing on her lips. "They're people, too. Most of them."

"As long as you promise to help people."

"I do." She sighed "But I have to get through a few bottom of the barrel cases before I can help. I have to pay my dues, represent people I don't like, so I can become the kind of lawyer who gets to hand pick every single case for herself."

"I'll try and stick around for that day." He said smugly and she punched him in the arm.

"I promise, here on the grave of my convicted felon mother, that I won't deny you the little pleasures of being my brother. Like intimidating my boyfriend. Or running background checks on every single person I know. If you can just be patient with me, then I'll show you I know what I'm doing. I just want the chance to do it on my own. I'm not trying to push you away, but I just want a chance to try again."

"Kelly," He started but she cut him off.

"I've got this new life that I'm still trying to fit myself into. I've never had friends like Angela and Temperance before. I've never been a lawyer before. I definitely have never dated someone who wasn't a bartender…" She laughed to herself. "And I've got you now. And you've got your own life. I want to try again, but I can't do that with you protecting me like you did before."

"Did I really do such a bad job before that you're firing me?" He asked slowly

"I'm not firing you. And no, you didn't do a bad job." She shook her head. "If I had my pick of older brothers, you'd be at the top of the list…" She sighed. "It's just I want my own life, with you in it. Hopefully one day it'll be you and Temperance, but that's up to you."

He looked at her through narrowed eyes.

"Lawyer and matchmaker." He teased

"You two did the matchmaking all on your own." She shook her head. "I'm just enjoying the show, really."

"Speaking of Bones, she's waiting in the car." He cocked his head in the direction of his idling SUV.

"She trekked all over Pennsylvania with you?" He nodded. "Whoa, big brother," She let out a low whistle. "She so loves you back."

"No she doesn't." He insisted.

"Um, trust me on this one." Kelly laughed. "If she's on a seemingly impossible day trip mission with you and has been sitting in the car for the past hour and not made a single complaint, she's totally head over heels for you. It takes great patience to do that."

"Love is patience, isn't it."

"Hey!" Kelly smiled. "You're catching on!"

"Is this you forgiving me for being an ass?" He looked at her seriously.

"Only if you're forgiving me for being a cut-throat bitch." She nodded in response.

"Come on, Pusher." He stood up with some effort and offered his hand down to help her up. "I'm soaking wet."

He protectively wrapped his arm around her shoulder and steered her back to his car. Once they approached, Brennan stepped out of the SUV and smiled.

"I say this with the best of intentions, Kelly, give me your keys." She held out her hand and demanded. "You look like hypothermia could set in at any moment."

"I'm really cold." Kelly nodded and fished out her keys and handed them to Brennan.

"Let's get you dry." Booth directed Kelly to the passenger side where Brennan had been seated. Once he closed the door behind her, he crossed paths with Brennan and whispered, "Do you mind not going home tonight?" She shook her head, completely understanding his need to make sure Kelly was taken care of. "Then follow me in Kelly's car."


	15. Chapter 15

Shortly after she had gotten off of the phone, Alice Booth made her way up the staircase and stood in front of a closed door at the end of a long hallway. A door that had been kept closed for more than 10 years. At first, her husband Joe had insisted the door be kept shut, but after the divorce, Alice had kept it shut simply because it hurt too much to open it.

Taking a deep breath, Alice pushed open the door. She imagined that it was what a crime scene would look like. Drawers were still opened with clothes hanging out from when Kelly had rapidly packed before going to rehab. Joe hadn't really given Kelly a choice. It was rehab or the street. Alice had urged Kelly to choose rehab, as had Seeley. Jared had been deployed with the Navy and didn't know she was gone until it was too late.

Seeley had gone back into combat and disappeared after his leave was over. While he was missing, Kelly had disappeared as well and Alice didn't know what to do. Seeley came home to them a different man, damaged. Days after his return, he left the Army and soon started with the FBI. She knew what her son had been motivated by his sense of honor and duty to America, perhaps a little by the demons in his past, but secretly she hoped he was using his resources at the FBI to find Kelly. Years went by with no contact from Kelly. Eventually, contact with Seeley became sporadic at best. Just when she felt she had been losing everything she so desperately loved and had tried to fight for, a call came from Kelly saying she was unharmed and living on her own. Just knowing Kelly was still alive greatly relieved Alice from her pain and guilt, but Kelly made her promise never to tell Seeley or Jared. Alice never understood that, but she respected Kelly's wishes.

With a frown, Alice saw broken glass in the corner. She approached cautiously and bent down to pick up a framed photograph from the floor. She let her finger delicately trace the three faces in the picture: her babies. Jared carelessly hanging from a tree, like he always did, Seeley looking sure of himself as he was leaning against the trunk of the tree with his arms across his chest and a smug smile on his face, and a little Kelly clinging desperately to Seeley's leg, but smiling at the camera. The picture had been taken in their grandfather's backyard all those years ago but it still felt true to Alice.

She reluctantly began picking up things off the floor and putting them where they belonged. An overdue library book went back on the shelf, clothes were folded and placed in drawers. She was making up the bed when she found a stuffed seal that Seeley had given Kelly before he joined the Army. It was wedged between Kelly's bed and the wall, probably stuffed down there in a moment of anger and forgotten. Holding the stuffed animal to her chest, she sat on the edge of the small bed and was suddenly overwhelmed by tears.

She didn't know how long she had been sitting there when she heard a knock on the door. Still holding the stuffed seal in her arms, she flew down the stairs. Outlined through the opaque glass of the front door was a tall man with broad shoulders. Without hesitation, she opened the door and flung her arms around Booth's neck. Slowly, he lifted his arms and wrapped them around his mother.

"It's been too long, Seeley." She admonished into his shoulder. She felt something tugging at her hand and then she felt the stuffed seal slip from her hand. She pulled away to pick it up, but when she looked behind him, she gasped. "Kelly Ann."

"Hi, Alice." Kelly said sheepishly, holding the stuffed animal. "You found Seeley." She held up the seal and shrugged as Alice pulled the young woman into a fierce embrace.

"She had a stuffed animal named Seeley?" Brennan whispered to Booth as he watched his mother and sister reuniting.

"She had nightmares about me joining the Army." Booth responded softly, hoping the response would satisfy Brennan.

"Christ, Kelly." Alice pulled back and put her hands on either side of Kelly's face. "You look just like your mother." She fingered her wet hair "And you're soaking. So are you Seeley. Everyone in, now." She stepped aside and for the first time, noticed Brennan standing there. "Which one do you belong to?" She asked Brennan, pointing between Booth and Kelly.

"Technically, him." Brennan pointed at Booth then flicked over to Kelly. "But I'm here for her."

"Mom, this is my partner, Dr. Temperance Brennan." Booth started ushering everyone inside. "I've told you about her."

"You're right," Alice whispered as she allowed herself to be led inside. "She is beautiful."

Kelly winked at Brennan as they passed the threshold after Booth and his mother.

*

Booth had disappeared upstairs once they were all safely inside and Alice had shown Brennan to the kitchen before she took Kelly to find something dry. Booth was the first to return, wearing a t-shirt that had seen better days and a very old pair of sweatpants that were a little too short.

"Problem with this unexpected overnight trip is the only clothes in the house belong to two teenage boys, a teenage girl and a grandma." He sat down next to her. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize." Brennan shook her head. "I'm perfectly capable of sleeping in my own clothes and I didn't sit out in the rain for an hour."

"I can find you something," He offered "I've got a million old t-shirts and athletic pants."

"I'm fine, Booth." She insisted, suddenly aware that wearing one of his old t-shirts was extremely intimate and she diverted her eyes to the doorway.

At that moment, Kelly returned wearing a light blue fuzzy robe, brown slippers with monkey heads on them, and a smile.

"Best part of this is, all the things I left behind are still here!" She slid into the seat on the other side of Brennan. "Not really what I expected."

"What did you expect?" Booth asked curiously

"Honestly? A bonfire." She shrugged.

Alice walked into the kitchen and placed her hand lovingly on top of Booth's head.

"Coffee." She said after a minute. "Or hot chocolate? Something?"

"Coffee would be great, Mom." Booth looked up at his mother and smiled as she playfully slapped him on the back of the head and headed over to the counter and started rustling around.

Brennan couldn't help but feel a sense of longing while looking at the scene in front of her. Alice Booth lived alone, her husband long gone and her two sons half a world away with lives of their own. It was rather sad to Brennan, but she watched Alice move around the kitchen and she looked over at Booth who was also watching his mother. He was smiling.

"Kelly Ann." Alice said after she put the coffee grounds into the coffee filter and pressed the on button. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"Mom, not really the time." Booth tried to intercede

"No, it's alright." Kelly smiled at Booth then looked at Alice. "About what, Alice?"

"Everything!" Alice flung up her hands in desperation.

"Everything? I generally think nothing about everything." Kelly could barely contain a smile.

"Don't get smart with me." Alice warned in a tone that reminded Brennan of Booth when he interrogated a suspect.

"She does tend to focus on the small stuff." Booth told his mother.

"Everything about nothing at all." Brennan offered the reverse to Kelly's statement and Kelly laughed.

"I just," Alice shook her head and patted Kelly's hand. "I don't get you kids."

"There's not much to get, Alice." Kelly smiled sympathetically. "I just needed time to think some things through. I didn't mean to scare everyone." She looked at Brennan "I especially didn't mean for you to get dragged all over the state of Pennsylvania looking for me."

"I offered to come." Brennan told her. "Booth seemed upset."

"I was not upset." He puffed up his chest.

"Yes you were." She insisted.

"You were, honey." Alice smiled at him. "I heard it in your voice and I only talked to you for a split second. I can just imagine your face." She lightheartedly twisted her face into a contorted grimace that Brennan was surprised to admit she had actually seen on Booth when he was upset about something.

From down the hallway, they heard a faint buzzer, signaling the clothes that Kelly and Booth had been wearing were ready to be placed in the dryer. Alice started to get up, but Booth stopped her.

"This load of laundry I can do." He smiled and Alice laughed, as if it was some inside joke. He walked out of the kitchen and Alice shook her head.

"He looks just like his father." She looked at Brennan and explained, "They all got something from Joe. Seeley got the cockiness, Jared got the recklessness and Kelly, you got the worst of it all, the unpredictableness."

"Pardon me for saying this, Mrs. Booth, but you say all those things like it's a bad thing." Brennan looked confused. "Booth's confidence is what solves a lot of cases. Jared throwing caution to the wind has saved Booth's life before. And Kelly," She looked at Kelly and smiled. "Kelly just gave me more insight into my partner's life than I could ever hope to get by him telling me."

"I think you're right, Dr. Brennan." Alice smiled a half smile. "Joe isn't a good man, but when you split him up between his three kids, he's got some good qualities for sharing."

"Just when you put it all together, you get hell." Kelly laughed "Better to split up a cocky, reckless and unpredictable bastard than to keep him together."

The coffee pot signaled it was finished brewing and Alice started busying herself with preparing four cups of coffee.

"What does it feel like to be back?" Brennan whispered to Kelly.

"The truth?" Kelly asked and Brennan nodded. "Like I was never supposed to leave in the first place."


	16. Chapter 16

_I'm having a really hard time posting this chapter because every time I read it, I add something or change it… I just have too many ideas, so I just gave up. I hope you enjoy it!_

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Booth was in his old bedroom that he had shared with Jared. When they were trying to figure out sleeping arrangements, he had tried to get Bones to take the room, but she had insisted he sleep in his own room while she slept on the couch in the family room downstairs.

He wasn't sleeping, though. He was exhausted, but sleep was alluding him. The bed wasn't particularly comfortable to begin with. When he had a growth spurt in high school, his grandparents had donated their old queen sized bed to him and the bed that was probably older than him had somehow made it back to his parent's house. He was lying on top of his comforter, still wearing the t-shirt and sweatpants he had found earlier. He had casually crossed his ankles and put his hands behind his head while deep in thought. Out of the corner of his eye while staring up at the ceiling, he saw his door slowly push open.

"Bones?" He sat up, concerned.

"You wish." Came the sarcastic reply.

"Ah, Munchkin." He settled back in and smiled. "We meet again." He scooted over to the side of his bed, against the wall, and held up the comforter. With a childish grin, Kelly came into the room and slid in underneath.

They rested there in silence for a few minutes, Booth simply enjoying the presence of his little sister. It reminded him of the time when she actually needed him there to protect her, to scare away the monsters and tell her elaborate, funny stories. A time, before they got old, that Booth considered golden.

"Seeley," Kelly said finally, pulling the comforter around her chin and turning her head to look at him. "You're a good dad."

"Thank you?" He eyed her suspiciously

"No, I mean it. Maybe it's because you had a lot of practice with me and Jared, but you're good at it. Parker is really, insanely lucky. Men can be fathers, but it takes something special to be a dad."

"Our father wasn't too great at it, was he."

"Not particularly." She shook her head "The happiest day in recent memory was the day Alice told me she had left him for good. It took her long enough."

"She was just trying to keep the family together."

"Did it ever occur to you that some families are just meant to be apart?"

"Like me and Rebecca." He nodded. "Sometimes it's for the best." He looked down at her. "But you leaving our family was not for the best."

"I don't know." She shrugged. "Who's to say I would have turned out any better if I had stayed?" She blinked. "Don't beat yourself up for my decisions. They're mine to make."

"I know that now." He shifted onto his side so that he was looking at her. "I meant what I said to your mother, I'm proud of you, but I'm not ready to let you go again. Ever again if I can help it. I know I can't always take care of you and fix your problems, but you just need to talk to me. That's what family does, or at least, that's what family tries to do."

"I am so ridiculously proud of you, too." Kelly laughed "I think Jeremy is honestly quite sick of hearing about how amazing you are."

"I am pretty amazing, aren't I?" Booth said with a grin.

"Shut up, asshole." Kelly lazily slapped him on the arm. "I mean it. It's like I need two hearts. One for all the love and pride that just kind of creeps into my life and another one for everyone else." She looked up at Booth with deep, round brown eyes. "You've always been number one for me, so don't expect that to change. You're family, and sometimes it felt like you were the only family I had and I don't forget a debt until it's repaid."

"You could consider it repaid." He shrugged.

"I owe you my life, Seeley." She said honestly.

"Then I'll accept the payment in quarts of blood." He laughed brusquely.

"For consumption?"

"Nah, I'm just going to put them on my shelves like trophies."

"You disgust me."

After their quick banter, Kelly pulled the comforter up back over her nose so that only her eyes were showing. She stared distantly at the ceiling while seemingly lost in thought. Suddenly, Booth wrapped his arms around Kelly's cocooned body and pulled her into a tight hug.

"This is awkward." Kelly murmured after a moment

"Yeah, I don't really care." Booth smiled, refusing to let her out of the hug. "Why did you do it, Kells?" He asked after a minute

"Do what?" She wondered out loud. "I've done a lot of stuff worthy of questioning."

"All of it." He shrugged, still holding her tightly in his arms

"When I was 15, I was just tired of how terribly my life was going. I wanted to live with Alice, but not with Dad. I know that's stupid,"

"It's not at all." He scoffed.

"But leaving seemed to be the only thing that would ensure my survival. I didn't have a life here anymore, or at least that's how I felt. Then once I was out on my own, it was too painful to reconnect. I didn't want anyone to be disappointed in me. It took me a few years, but I called Alice one day and I swore her to secrecy about what I was doing. I didn't want you to worry about me anymore."

"Too bad."

"So after our fight last night, I realized that all the reasons I left were totally stupid."

"It only took you about half of your lifetime to figure that out." He interjected quickly

"So I ran again. No, I wouldn't call it running away, it was trying to run towards something… something that wasn't there."

"You should have called me."

"You can't help me with this." She shook her head and Booth was reminded of what Angela said. _There are some things a brother can't fix._ "I sat there for three hours, trying to will the past to fix itself. I tried to figure out how to erase the past 10 years. If I was really good at it, I was going to work on the 5 years before that. But how do you erase running away? How can you solve the problem of an abusive father? How do you will everyone you love to come back to you?"

"You can't."

"I know. I realized that I have been looking for a moment in time, I chased it. The people are the same, sure, maybe even the things we talk about, but that moment is long gone. That feeling of happiness, of being complete, was just that: a moment. When I realized that, I just felt even more depressed, even more empty."

"Every time I went to a crime scene, if the victim was female in her early 20s, I questioned if it was you." He rested his chin on the top of her head. "I think I did that every time until I saw you at that bar… I'm always going to be concerned about you."

He knew that piece of information was inconsequential, but he hoped it filled her emptiness just a little. He knew the moment she was talking about, he had several of them locked in his own memory. His coma dream. Pops teaching him how to shoot a gun. Parker's birth. The day he realized Kelly would never be his father's baby, but his… Moments he had chased after for so long. He too realized that the ability to discover those exact feelings were long gone, but he clung to the hope that more moments would happen.

"I'm sorry." She mumbled

"We need a code word." Booth said after a moment and Kelly looked up at him with her eyebrows raised. "Just in case one of us is about to fly off the handle again."

"Bananas." Kelly said after a brief pause and it was Booth's turn to look at her with his eyebrows raised. "Oh come on, how many times do you use bananas in casual conversation outside of talking about monkeys and breakfast foods."

"Bananas it is." Booth nodded with a short laugh.

"And we need a Switzerland." She continued.

"Neutral territory?" Booth guessed and she nodded. "The diner."

"Sounds fair." She agreed. "Bananas and Switzerland for when we turn into monsters."

Booth laughed and squeezed her again. He was still on top of the covers and holding her while she was underneath them reminded him of holding her when she was a baby.

"Why did you come for me?" Kelly looked up at him with wide eyes. The trust and admiration that had once been written so plainly over her face was now gone. All that remained was the face of a very tired young woman.

"I was trying to will everyone I love to come back to me." He repeated with a smile. "Why did you come so willingly? That's not what I expected. Everyone thought you had jumped off the deep end."

Carefully choosing her words, she responded, "I can't fix the past, but I can make the present better."

"I think we can do that." Booth said after a minute, tightening his arms around Kelly. "We're both relatively young, we're both foolishly in love with amazing people… I say that's a home run in Booth family standards."

"You think Jeremy is amazing?" She asked after a minute and he laughed.

"I think we beat the odds, Munchkin."

"I think we did too." She nodded sleepily. "I also think there's a monster in my closet." She sounded so young that it transported Booth to another time. "Can I sleep in here tonight?"

"Sure," Booth said with a smile and opened his arms so she could wiggle out and find a comfortable sleeping position. "Just don't snore." He warned as he turned over on his other side, receiving a close fisted punch in his shoulder as a response.


	17. Chapter 17

_I got a little message from someone saying that it was weird having Booth and Kelly in bed together as adults, so I just wanted to justify myself. It just felt right. Booth is like a dad to her, and I'm in my mid-20s and I still curl up with my mom or dad in bed whenever I go visit them. Also, I wrote that scene in Building Booths where the kids huddled in Booth's bed for protection and the assurance that everything would be ok and I felt it was important that I mirror that scene just because Kelly needed to reassure herself and Booth that they would be just fine.  
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_Ok, on with Alice. She's secretly becoming one of my favorites...  
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Brennan was still sitting on the couch when she heard a deep mumble come from the floor above her. She had heard a door creak open a few minutes before, then she had heard floorboards groan under the weight of someone walking above. She had assumed someone was going to the bathroom when the mumbling started. It came in waves, as if someone else was talking softly, but she could only hear the responses. She had tried to make out individual words to no avail.

She hadn't been able to fall asleep. The voices weren't bothering her, and in truth, she was exhausted. She sat on the couch with her legs tucked underneath her, realizing that she hadn't heard the mumbling in a while. The Booths must now be asleep. She smiled knowing that her partner and his family were sleeping upstairs. She felt oddly safe.

There was more creaking on the stairs and she turned her head to see who was coming down. She had expected either Kelly or Booth, so it surprised her when Alice peaked her head around the corner.

"I was just checking in on you. Sorry if I woke you." Alice apologized once she saw Brennan sitting on the couch and looking back at her.

"No, I wasn't asleep." Brennan shook her head. The older woman stepped out from the corner and Brennan smiled at her pink, lacey dressing gown.

"If the couch is uncomfortable, we can find somewhere else for you-"

"The couch is perfectly comfortable." Brennan assured her. "I'm just thinking about a lot of things."

"You and me both." Alice smiled. "Join me for tea in the kitchen?"

Brennan nodded, feeling unusually comforted by the older woman. Alice Booth wasn't what Brennan would consider old. She held her back straight and walked with an even gait. Her hair was light brown, wisped with gray. There was always a smile behind her eyes, even as she was admonishing her children, as Brennan had seen earlier in the evening. From Alice, Brennan concluded, was where Booth learned to be light-hearted in terrible situations. She was grateful for that.

Brennan followed Alice into the kitchen and took a seat at the table while Alice filled a tea kettle with water.

"So I'm assuming you have a few questions," Alice said with a smile. "Shoot."

"Questions?" Brennan asked

"When I met Joe's mother for the first time, I had a million. You can't tell me you don't have just a few."

"Booth and I aren't dating." Brennan felt her cheeks warm and she hoped she wasn't blushing. Blushing wasn't something she did. "We work together."

"Uh huh." Alice smiled again like she had a secret. "But you two spend a lot of time together?"

"It's the nature of our jobs." Brennan nodded. "I suppose I do have a few, but not about your son."

"Oh?" Alice reached into a cabinet and produced two mugs.

"If you think your husband was such a terrible person, why did you stay? Why did you send your children to live with Hank?"

"Hank suggested it." Alice laughed lightly. "When Hank suggests something, you're better off if you just do it."

"I can understand that." Brennan nodded and smiled back.

"But I love Joe. Not the Joe he became, but the Joe he was." Alice sighed and sat across from Brennan at the table. "And when you love someone as much as I did, when you share your life, there's still a part of you that holds on to that love and cannot let go. Does that make sense?"

"Yes."

"At first, I didn't want to accept who he was, I thought I could change him. And I thought I did. After Seeley went to college, Joe and I got back together and Hank reluctantly agreed to send Jared and Kelly back to us. But Seeley was the glue that held those two together. Life just kept getting worse, more complicated. Joe doesn't handle failure very well and when he saw his children getting into trouble and growing up, it was me who wouldn't accept his failures anymore." She smiled a little. "I remember calling Seeley telling him that Joe and I were getting a divorce. Do you know what his response was?" Brennan shook her head. "About damn time, Mom." She chuckled to herself.

"I suppose there's no love lost there."

"No." Alice agreed. "But Joe would be proud of Seeley now, if he only knew who Seeley was. He'd be proud of Jared, too. But I don't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing how amazing his boys are."

"And Kelly?"

"I don't know." Alice shook her head sadly. "In my opinion, Kelly is the most like Joe. The unforgiving, hard-headedness that she's going to need to be a lawyer is programmed within her. I think they burned enough bridges between them that nothing she could ever do would ever be good enough. Kelly had the odds stacked against her from day one."

"Because of her mother?"

"Partly. Maybe because of me too." Brennan looked at Alice in surprise. "Joe never forgave me for taking Kelly in. Another child was not something Joe wanted, even if that child was painfully his."

"Kelly is very bright and very loving." Brennan unknowingly complimented Alice. "And I know Booth adores her very much."

"Oh, he always has." Alice grinned as she got up to retrieve the whistling tea kettle. "When she was a baby, I swear he would have taken her to school with him just so that he knew she was alright during the day." Her smile faded. "I think he was always afraid Joe would take Kelly away from him while he wasn't looking."

She brought the two mugs over to the table and placed one in front of Brennan.

"What was he like growing up?" Brennan asked after her first sip. It was green tea with what Brennan detected as a hint of mint and lemon. She smiled as the comforting liquid coated her throat.

"Seeley?" Alice chuckled. "A shorter version of who he is now. Arrogant, perceptive and a charmer. The ladies at church used to just give him anything he wanted when he just flashed a smile. It drove Jared crazy until the day he realized he could do the same thing. "Those Booth Boys" was how people referred to them."

"Those Booth Boys." Brennan echoed with a smile. "He's a good partner to have." She said unexpectedly and Alice beamed with motherly pride.

"Now answer my question: what's he like to work with?"

"He's fair. Relentless in his pursuit of the truth. But he's passionate as well. He has a way of reading people, of walking into a room, gauging the atmosphere and getting what he wants out of a situation, all the while the people involved have no idea what hit them." Brennan stopped when Alice laughed.

"That's my boy, alright."

"He's a good man. And an excellent agent." Brennan reassured her "And a wonderful father." Alice smiled tenderly at the addition.

"A good friend?"

"He's taught me a lot." She nodded and Alice looked at her deliberately.

"I think you taught him a lot, too."

"What do you mean?" Brennan asked as she took another sip of tea and regarded Alice over the rim of her mug

"When my son first started working with you, he was broken. Not visibly, but his spirit." She touched her hand to her chest. "War did more damage to my son than even he realizes. He hides it well. He pushes it deep down." She smiled a little. "Joe's children had to do it. The learned from a very early age that the only thing they can control in an unpredictable world is how they respond. Kelly runs away. Jared gets into trouble, looking for attention. Seeley…" She shook her head. "He controls it. He pretends it never happened, but it did."

"I believe he's gotten better. He has revealed many things that have happened to him."

"He didn't do that till you." Alice smiled. "Our Protector, that's what Jared called him. He said it with jealousy, but there's a lot of truth to it. Seeley is always going to be the valiant one, mainly because he doesn't know how else to respond to things. Emotions he's feeling, he'll keep them bottle tight until something forces it to blow."

"He doesn't want to burden someone if he thinks they have their own problems to deal with." Brennan nodded. "I've seen him do that."

"Don't let him do it, Dr. Brennan."

"Please, call me Temperance."

"If you'll call me Alice." Alice smiled a dazzling smile. "I find it awfully amusing that the one person Seeley speaks so highly of is named Temperance. If there's one thing my boy has, it's temperance."

"I never thought of it that way."

"I trust you, Temperance, to take care of my son because Lord knows he won't let me do it anymore. That boy is more special to me than I can even begin describing, but he's yours now. Whether you asked for this or not, he's yours."

"I don't understand." Brennan looked at her curiously

"I don't need him anymore and soon enough, Kelly won't need him either. He needs to be needed." Alice said seriously. "Your partnership and friendship gives him what he needs to be a good man. And I trust you."

"Thank you." She nodded with a smile, as if she was accepting a torch that was being passed to her. "I'll do my best."

"That's all any of us can promise." Alice took the last sips of her tea. "I'm going to head up to bed, now." She started out the doorway, then turned around. "If the couch is too uncomfortable, go sleep in Kelly's room. I heard her and Seeley talking earlier and I would put money that they're having one of their slumber parties they used to have all the time when Kelly was little." She laughed and started back out of the kitchen. "It may never come, but it will be a sad day when they don't need each other anymore."


	18. Chapter 18

_This is it! If you've read this far, please let me know what you think! There are two more Kelly stories in the works, so let me know how you feel about her and her stories! For all of you who have reviewed, it has been an absolute pleasure to read the reviews and it really makes me feel like I'm not doing this in vain! You're what keeps me checking my email every day! ;) Thank you so much for supporting me and Kelly!_

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The next morning, Booth and Brennan left the house that Booth had grown up in. Kelly stayed behind, promising Alice she would stay the weekend. The only way Booth was able to escape was to make excuses that Brennan needed to get back to her real job and promising that he would try to bring Parker up for a Christmas visit.

They were on the highway before either of them spoke and it was Brennan who initiated the conversation.

"She has a stuffed seal named Seeley." It was all she said, but Booth smiled knowing that his explanation from last night wouldn't hold her.

"Kelly was really young when I blew out my shoulder, dropped out of college and joined the Army." He tried to explain. "She cried for days when we first told her. My girlfriend at the time, Erin, she had a grandmother pass away when she was little and she told me that the only thing that made her feel better was a doll that her grandmother had given her." He rested his elbow on the door and pulled his sunglasses off. "I got her the seal so she would have something to talk to. I know that probably doesn't make any sense to you,"

"No, it makes perfect sense." Brennan quickly nodded. "I find it," She struggled for the right word. "Sweet."

"I can be sweet sometimes." Booth laughed and put his sunglasses back on.

"I enjoyed meeting your mother." She said after a few more miles. "She's a remarkably strong woman."

"I seem to surround myself in remarkably strong women, don't I?" He looked at her quickly and grinned. "Thanks for coming with me. And staying."

"It was very," She smiled back. "Educational. I'm glad I was able to come along."

"Educational?" He looked at her cautiously "Should I be worried?"

"Not at all." She looked at Booth's profile as he continued to drive. "You're in a better mood."

"I am." He smiled. "Kelly and I had some stuff to work out, and we did."

"You _and _Kelly?" She eyed him suspiciously.

"Ok, I did." He laughed a little. "But I promised to be patient. We can't fix the past, so we're going to work on the future."

"That's a very pragmatic outlook." She agreed

"Love is patience." Booth smiled a secretive smile. "If I love someone, I'm just going to have to learn to be patient. I'm going to have to wait for that moment, not try to recreate it."

Brennan stared at him silently, wondering what he was really talking about. She looked back out her window, watching as they passed slower cars. Something Booth's mother had said echoed in the back of her mind. _Whether you asked for this or not, he's yours._ Would she have to be patient too?

"You know, she mentioned you." Booth said suddenly and Brennan jerked her head around.

"She did?" She looked back at him with surprise

"At the cemetery. She said you were a friend." He nodded his head, lightly tapping his fingers on the steering wheel to the music that was playing softly in the background.

"I do enjoy her company."

"Kelly never had friends growing up. Not close ones anyway. Knowing she considered you a friend, I just, I felt…" He searched for the right word

"Honored?" She attempted, hoping she didn't sound too conceited.

"Validated." He corrected with a grin. "The life I'm living, it's a good one."

_**..fin..**_


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